The Lie Of Too Late

Bunbury

Sun am

5/12/10

“The lie of too late”

Intro: *** Friends of George Burns have always kidded him about his singing. Burns, a master of self-deprecating humour, decided to take advantage of this and insure his voice for a million dollars. He thought it would be a wonderful publicity stunt.

“I was so excited,” said Burns, “I couldn’t wait to rush down to the insurance company. I took a cassette and a tape recorder with me so the insurance man could hear my voice. It was one of my best numbers—a syncopated version of Yankee Doodle Blues with a yodelling finish. The insurance man listened patiently to the whole thing, then he just looked at me and said, ‘Mr. Burns, you should have come to us before you had the accident.’”

George Burns realised long b/4 this that his voice would never be the focus of his career so it was no shock to him when he was told it’s too late!

But how many times are we confronted w/ dreams that have gone wrong?

Hopes that will never come to pass & aspirations that will never be realised?

Many people give up on living the kind of lives that God wants them to live simply b/c they believe it’s too late.

They give up on b/co something more than they are / marriage / family / fitting into society / relationships / being financially stable / children that have gone wrong – give up on life!

And its all b/c they have believed the lie of ‘too late for me!”

So t/m I want to speak against this lie & we want to find hope from the word of God that it’s not too late for you.

I want to preach a sermon I’ve entitled ‘The lie of too late’.

Text: Genesis 18:1-15 (NKJV) 1Then the LORD appeared to him by the terebinth trees of Mamre, as he was sitting in the tent door in the heat of the day. 2So he lifted his eyes and looked, and behold, three men were standing by him; and when he saw them, he ran from the tent door to meet them, and bowed himself to the ground, 3and said, “My Lord, if I have now found favor in Your sight, do not pass on by Your servant. 4Please let a little water be brought, and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree.

5And I will bring a morsel of bread, that you may refresh your hearts. After that you may pass by, inasmuch as you have come to your servant.” They said, “Do as you have said.”

6So Abraham hurried into the tent to Sarah and said, “Quickly, make ready three measures of fine meal; knead it and make cakes.” 7And Abraham ran to the herd, took a tender and good calf, gave it to a young man, and he hastened to prepare it. 8So he took butter and milk and the calf which he had prepared, and set it before them; and he stood by them under the tree as they ate. 9Then they said to him, “Where is Sarah your wife?” So he said, “Here, in the tent.” 10And He said, “I will certainly return to you according to the time of life, and behold, Sarah your wife shall have a son.” (Sarah was listening in the tent door which was behind him.) 11Now Abraham and Sarah were old, well advanced in age; and Sarah had passed the age of childbearing. 12Therefore Sarah laughed within herself, saying, “After I have grown old, shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also?” 13And the LORD said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh, saying, ‘Shall I surely bear a child, since I am old?’ 14Is anything too hard for the LORD? At the appointed time I will return to you, according to the time of life, and Sarah shall have a son.” 15But Sarah denied it, saying, “I did not laugh,” for she was afraid. And He said, “No, but you did laugh!”

# 1. The too late mind.

A. The mind of man is a peculiar thing.

a. Our minds are powerfully conditioned w/ timeframes in life.

i. In other words we believe that there are timeframes where certain things must happen / take place.

ii. We have been conditioned to believe that there are windows of opportunity in life that will only be open for a brief time & then they will close.

iii. And while this may be true in some areas of life it’s not true in every area of life.

iv. But we often live in fear of missing our opportunity & our lives are driven by the concern of missed opportunity.

b. Think about some of the ways in which this works out through our lives..... our minds begin to work this way from a very early age.