Watch And Pray Red Rover School Yard Games #1 Series

Matthew 26:36-41 3/7/21 a.m.

Did you all ever play Red Rover? Some of you younger folks probably never played this little SADISTIC GAME where you get your ARM JOINTS pulled out of SOCKET. Anyway, you choose TWO CAPTAINS and then they take turns picking a TEAM.

I was ALWAYS LAST because I was a SKINNY LITTLE WEAKLING!!! How I ever SURVIVED ELEMENTARY SCHOOL I DON’T KNOW.

But anyway, these two teams would stretch out in a line facing each other. They would then join hands making a CHAIN. And then each team would take turns picking a person from the other side. The person would be called out and he or she would run as fast as they could and try to BREAK THROUGH your CHAIN. If they did, then they went back to their own side. If you held them, then they had to join your team. And the way you win RED ROVER is you get all of the members from one team over to your side.

Now here’s where the STRATEGY COMES IN. If you picked a really WEAK PERSON then it would be easy to keep that person from breaking through your line. They would join your team but if you got too many weak people together, they were a WEAK SPOT. They were an easy target for a person to BREAK THROUGH. So you tried to pick those you could hold but they had enough strength to help your team.

I still remember the dreaded RHYME!!!! “Red Rover, Red Rover let Mitch come on over!!!”

And I would RUN as fast as I could and then WIND UP on the other team!!! I finally FILLED OUT SOME and I’m not the WEAKLING I used to be. But I bet I would still be picked last in Red Rover.

This morning I want to talk to you about WEAKNESS. Where we are WEAK. What is the WEAK LINK in our lives.

So let’s turn in our Bibles to Matthew 26, Verses 36-41.

“Then cometh Jesus with them unto a place called Gethsemane, and saith unto the disciples, Sit ye here, while I go and pray yonder.

37 And he took with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and began to be sorrowful and very heavy.

38 Then saith he unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death: tarry ye here, and watch with me.

39 And he went a little farther, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt.

40 And he cometh unto the disciples, and findeth them asleep, and saith unto Peter, What, could ye not watch with me one hour?

41 Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”

Jesus tells us in Verse 41, to WATCH and PRAY. Because you might have the BEST of INTENTIONS but the FLESH is WEAK.

Before we get into this message, let’s go to the Lord in Prayer. Brother ______, would you lead us?

So, in Red Rover, you would be called out. “Red Rover Red Rover let Mitch come on over.” And the first thing you would do is begin SEARCHING for the WEAK LINK. LOOKING across the field at the line stretched out in front of you. Looking for the SPOT in the CHAIN where it might be BROKEN.

And I think Satan has a way of doing that. He doesn’t KNOW our HEARTS. He can’t READ our MINDS. But he does see where we are SOFT. He SEES where he has been effective in the PAST. He SEES where we have GIVEN IN to his temptation. And I believe that’s where he focuses his attacks.

And in this passage that we read this morning, Jesus has lived approximately 33 years on this earth.

He has experienced LIFE and He understands ALL the WEAKNESSES that we as FLESHLY HUMANS face.

He UNDERSTANDS the TEMPTATIONS that SATAN throws at us. He has FACED them Himself.

And he tells these three disciples, Peter, James and John to WATCH and PRAY.

Listen, to Watch and Pray is an ABSOLUTE MUST for us as CHRISTIANS.

When you’re WATCHING you’ll see TEMPTATION coming;

And when you PRAY it gives you strength to withstand the TEMPTATION when it GETS THERE.

I. Jesus KNEW exactly what was coming for these DISCIPLES. He KNEW that things were going to get ROUGH in just a few hours. And He tells them to WATCH. Don’t let yourself become DISTRACTED and NOT WATCH. Don’t let that be the WEAK LINK in your life.

In todays English we say, “Watch out!!!” In other words something may be fixing to happen and you better keep your EYES OPEN.