Who Am I Becoming? The Issue Of Patience Series

INTRODUCTION

• VIDEO CLIP.

• SLIDE #1

• Can ANYONE here today relate to that video?

• When I follow the ministry of Jesus, I am intrigued by the level of patience Jesus showed with the people and especially the disciples.

• There were so many incidents with the disciples that would have pushed me over the edge.

• Hey Jesus, I know you taught about humility, but can we sit at your right and left when the Kingdom comes?

• He Jesus, it is storming and we are scared. Hey disciples, wait for me while I pray. Oh boy, you all fell asleep again?

• Then on the cross, most all of the disciples fled, oh boy!

• We are in a time where patience is a lost art. How often do we hear about some road rage incident where the preacher gets into a fight with someone driving slow down Fry Blvd.?

• Oh, wait, too close to home.

• But seriously, impatience is not a good thing.

• Have you ever lacked patience?

• Have you ever done the impatience foot stomp at the microwave? How about waiting for that INSTANT RICE? INSTANT RIGHT? What about in a crowd in the airport, you need to get to the next flight QUICKLY and folks are meandering around like time stopped!

• When you lacked patience, were the decisions you made good ones?

• When you lost patience, were you at your best in the way you treated people?

• A man was being tailgated by a stressed-out woman on a busy boulevard when, suddenly, the light turned yellow just in front of him. He did the right thing, stopping at the crosswalk, even though he could have beaten the red light by accelerating through the intersection.

• The tailgating woman hit the roof, and the horn, screaming in frustration as she missed her chance to get through the intersection with him. As she was still in a mid-rant, she heard a tap on her window and looked up into the face of a very serious police officer.

• The officer ordered her to exit the car with her hands up. He took her to the police station where she was searched, fingerprinted, photographed and placed in a cell. After a couple of hours, an officer approached the cell and opened the door. She was escorted back to the booking desk where the arresting officer was waiting with her personal effects.

• He said, “I’m very sorry for this mistake. You see, I pulled up behind your car while you were blowing your horn, flipping off the guy in front of you, and cussing a blue streak at him. I noticed the ‘Choose Life’ license plate holder, the ‘What would Jesus Do’ bumper sticker, the ‘Follow Me to Sunday School’ bumper sticker, and the chrome-plated Christian fish emblem on the trunk.” “Naturally, I assumed you had stolen the car!”

• I know some of my worst decisions happened when I lost my patience.

• Some of my worst Hall of Shame moments in life happened with I lost patience and then lost my temper.

• As a follower of Jesus, as we are being transformed into His image, one of the virtues we need to allow develop is the virtue of patience.

• Today let’s delve into the virtue of patience together as we look at the key idea being, I AM SLOW TO ANGER AND ENDURE PATIENTLY UNDER THE UNAVOIDABLE PRESSURES OF LIFE?

• We examine 2 Peter 3:8-9 together.

• SLIDE #2

• 2 Peter 3:8–9 (HCSB) — 8 Dear friends, don’t let this one thing escape you: With the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years like one day. 9 The Lord does not delay His promise, as some understand delay, but is patient with you, not wanting any to perish but all to come to repentance.

• SLIDE #3

SERMON

I. God set the example for me to follow concerning patience.

• One of the things that is great about God is that He gives us an example to follow in life.

• In the context of 2 Peter 3 is that some were mocking God because it had been a long time since Jesus had ascended into heaven and yet, no return of Jesus yet.

• Peter was addressing the issue that the mockers had grasped on to.

• Peter explains that we are not to judge God by the same time restraints that humans are shacked.

• So Peter address the audience and he asks them not to ignore some pertinent information concerning the return of the Lord.

• With the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years like one day.

• The story is told of a man who in a conversation with God asks him, “How long is a million years to you?”