Latest / Max Lucado Daily Sermons / Faithworks Great Sermon- Minister Max Lucado
Transcript
- 0:21Speaker 1: I've got a few things I'm going to put on eBay.
- 0:28Speaker 1: I thought maybe some of you might like to have
- 0:31Speaker 1: a shot at them. First. I've been hoarding a few
- 0:37Speaker 1: things and thought it would be wise, you know, to
- 0:42Speaker 1: share them with others. And then I had second thoughts,
- 0:46Speaker 1: and I thought, no, I'm just going to make some
- 0:48Speaker 1: money off the extra toilet paper. Here's some more and
- 0:58Speaker 1: some more. I've got some. Here's some verses in the
- 1:03Speaker 1: Bible that talk about purify us. O Lord, I think
- 1:09Speaker 1: they have taken on a new dimension. These verses have
- 1:16Speaker 1: some more and some more, and you can't have it. Well.
- 1:26Speaker 1: Good morning, everybody, God bless you today is Greg said.
- 1:32Speaker 1: We're continuing this study in the Beautiful Epistle of James.
- 1:39Speaker 1: So if you have a Bible with you or a
- 1:42Speaker 1: smart phone device see the one, I would encourage you
- 1:45Speaker 1: to have that. Open and welcome to all of you
- 1:49Speaker 1: watching online. We're grateful that you're here, those of you.
- 1:53Speaker 1: I got a text from somebody on their way on
- 1:55Speaker 1: a spring break vacation. But they're watching our early. I
- 2:00Speaker 1: hope they're listening, not watching as they drive, just listening
- 2:05Speaker 1: live today. And if you're here visiting from out of town,
- 2:08Speaker 1: on spring break. Thank you for including oak Kills as
- 2:12Speaker 1: a part of your travel plans. In AD two fifty one,
- 2:17Speaker 1: a plague struck the Roman Empire. Historians believed that the
- 2:22Speaker 1: plague the disease, was the measles citizens of Rome, however,
- 2:28Speaker 1: they did not know what it was, nor did they
- 2:30Speaker 1: know what to think. All they knew was that a devastating,
- 2:34Speaker 1: mysterious illness had settled over their regions like an evil fog.
- 2:42Speaker 1: According to one report, five thousand people were dying a
- 2:48Speaker 1: day in the city of Rome in trepidation was every
- 2:53Speaker 1: bit as fatal as the affliction. Several on side accounts
- 3:01Speaker 1: survived the time. One historian wrote that the Romans believed
- 3:06Speaker 1: the plague was the scourge of the gods. They would
- 3:10Speaker 1: push a sufferer away and flee even from their dearest,
- 3:16Speaker 1: hoping thereby to avert the spread and contagion of the
- 3:21Speaker 1: fatal disease. Another reported that many were afraid to visit
- 3:26Speaker 1: one another, and they died with no one to look
- 3:29Speaker 1: after them. Indeed, there were many houses in which all
- 3:34Speaker 1: the inhabitants perished through the lack of any attention. There
- 3:40Speaker 1: was one exception to this, however, Christians. Christians were the
- 3:48Speaker 1: one segment of the population who fared better than any other.
- 3:54Speaker 1: Listen to This Summer Is written by Larry Hackman responded differently.
- 4:02Speaker 1: Trusting in God's promises of eternal life, they turned to
- 4:06Speaker 1: care for the sickest. The ironic result is that the
- 4:11Speaker 1: mortality rate of Christians was significantly lower because they cared
- 4:17Speaker 1: for one another. That gave a chance for the measles
- 4:22Speaker 1: sufferer to recuperate, whereas those who isolated themselves would inevitably
- 4:29Speaker 1: perish from neglect even if they survived the ravages of
- 4:34Speaker 1: the disease. Because they did not fear death, the Christians lived.
- 4:41Speaker 1: Do you think the Christians of that day would have
- 4:45Speaker 1: a word for the Christians of this day. We're beginning
- 4:51Speaker 1: to see the same. Fear. The coronavirus is contagious, but
- 4:56Speaker 1: fear of the virus is even more so. It is
- 5:01Speaker 1: one thing, and it is a very good thing, a
- 5:05Speaker 1: wise thing to make preparations and take precautions. Preparation is good,
- 5:12Speaker 1: but panic is not. And so I'd like to begin
- 5:16Speaker 1: and end my message with prayers, prayers for faith, prayers
- 5:23Speaker 1: for confidence, and prayers for peace. My prayer at the
- 5:28Speaker 1: end of the message will be a collective prayer in
- 5:31Speaker 1: which anyone who's facing any challenge whatsoever will invite you
- 5:35Speaker 1: to come to the front and pray over everyone who
- 5:39Speaker 1: comes one time as a group. I begin the sermon, however,
- 5:43Speaker 1: with a prayer for us all. Whether you would come
- 5:47Speaker 1: forward or not, I'm not giving you the choice. I'm
- 5:51Speaker 1: going to pray for you anyway. I would encourage you
- 5:55Speaker 1: to turn your hearts toward Heaven and bow your heads
- 5:58Speaker 1: in reverence to our Almighty God, who loves us and
- 6:01Speaker 1: protects us. And I'm opening my Bible to Psalm chapter
- 6:06Speaker 1: ninety one, which is the recording of a beautiful psalm,
- 6:10Speaker 1: a beautiful prayer, a prayer of protection, Heavenly Father. We
- 6:16Speaker 1: join our hearts now as we make this prayer, our prayer.
- 6:21Speaker 1: He who dwells in the secret place of the Most
- 6:24Speaker 1: High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I
- 6:29Speaker 1: will say of the Lord, he is my refuge and
- 6:32Speaker 1: my fortress, my God. In him, will I trust. Surely
- 6:36Speaker 1: he shall deliver you from the snare of the fowler
- 6:39Speaker 1: and from the perilous pestilence. And he shall cover you
- 6:43Speaker 1: with his feathers, and under his wings you shall take refuge.
- 6:47Speaker 1: His truth shall be your shield and buckler. You shall
- 6:51Speaker 1: not be afraid of the terror by night, nor of
- 6:54Speaker 1: the arrow that flies by day, nor of the pestilence
- 6:57Speaker 1: that walks in the darkness, nor of the destruction that
- 7:00Speaker 1: lays waste at noonday Verse nine. Because you have made
- 7:07Speaker 1: the Lord who is my refuge, even the most High,
- 7:10Speaker 1: your dwelling place, no evil shall befall you, nor shall
- 7:15Speaker 1: any plague come near your dwelling. For He shall give
- 7:20Speaker 1: his angels charge over you, to keep you in all
- 7:24Speaker 1: your ways. In their hands, they shall bear you up.
- 7:29Speaker 1: Lest you dash your foot against a stone, you shall
- 7:33Speaker 1: tread upon the lion and the cobra, the young lion,
- 7:37Speaker 1: and the serpent you shall trample underfoot. Heavenly Father, we
- 7:42Speaker 1: make this prayer our prayer. We dwell in the secret
- 7:46Speaker 1: place of the Most High. We abide under the shadow
- 7:50Speaker 1: of the Almighty God. And we say of you that
- 7:53Speaker 1: you are our refuge, and you are our strength, and
- 7:56Speaker 1: you we will trust You shall deliver us. You shall
- 8:01Speaker 1: cover us. We will not be afraid of the terror
- 8:05Speaker 1: by night, nor of the arrow that flies by day,
- 8:09Speaker 1: nor of the pestilence that walks in the darkness, nor
- 8:13Speaker 1: of the destruction that lays waste at noonday. We have
- 8:17Speaker 1: made you our refuge, you the most high our dwelling place.
- 8:22Speaker 1: No evil shall befall us, no plague shall come near
- 8:26Speaker 1: our dwelling, for you have given your angels charge over
- 8:30Speaker 1: us to keep us in all our ways. We thank you, Lord,
- 8:36Speaker 1: and we receive this blessing in the name of Jesus.
- 8:40Speaker 1: And all the church said, Amen, Well, I'm really grateful
- 8:49Speaker 1: that Travis has called upon us to study the Book
- 8:53Speaker 1: of James. In fact, can I just say I'm just
- 8:55Speaker 1: grateful for Travis. Period each weekend his messages grow stronger,
- 9:08Speaker 1: and each day his leadership gifts become more and more evident.
- 9:14Speaker 1: He's on a well deserved spring break, So you are
- 9:18Speaker 1: stuck with me this weekend and the next. He and
- 9:22Speaker 1: I went to lunch the other day. He yeah, you
- 9:26Speaker 1: can applaud the lunch. Is that what? That is? Just kidding?
- 9:30Speaker 1: Thank you? He and I went to lunch the other
- 9:33Speaker 1: day and an oak Hill's member walked over and she said,
- 9:39Speaker 1: my favorite oak Hill's preacher, and she extended her hand
- 9:45Speaker 1: to Travis. And when she then saw that I was
- 9:51Speaker 1: at the table too, she was a bit embarrassed, but
- 9:56Speaker 1: I was not I was thrilled. I was thrilled. It's
- 10:04Speaker 1: been over eighteen months since we officially passed the baton
- 10:09Speaker 1: Max to Travis as senior Minister. But sometimes what is
- 10:14Speaker 1: official takes a little longer emotionally. But it's happening. Travis
- 10:22Speaker 1: is walking in his anointing, and he is displaying the
- 10:28Speaker 1: presence and the power of the Holy Spirit. And I
- 10:33Speaker 1: am more confident than ever that this pulpit, this privilege
- 10:38Speaker 1: of preaching, is in the capable hands of someone who
- 10:42Speaker 1: can guard it and curate it well over the next generation.
- 10:48Speaker 1: And for that I'm immensely grateful. And so we turn
- 10:53Speaker 1: our attention now to James Chapter two. As Travis pointed
- 10:58Speaker 1: out last week, it's quite likely that James is the
- 11:04Speaker 1: earliest of the epistles written early in the first generation
- 11:10Speaker 1: of the First era First Church. And I believe that James,
- 11:17Speaker 1: who wrote this epistle to those who were suffering persecution,
- 11:23Speaker 1: would call upon us, as he called upon them, to
- 11:26Speaker 1: be communities of courage. They had been banished all over
- 11:32Speaker 1: the then known world, a part of the diaspora spread around,
- 11:38Speaker 1: and this letter written by James, then circulated among the churches,
- 11:43Speaker 1: was a call to courage, a call to even count
- 11:46Speaker 1: it joy when we face various tribulations. James Chapter two
- 11:54Speaker 1: can be divided, at least, I believe, into two very
- 11:58Speaker 1: clear sections. The first section could be called the folly
- 12:03Speaker 1: of favoritism. The folly of favoritism. Here's what James says,
- 12:12Speaker 1: My dear brothers and sisters, How can you claim to
- 12:16Speaker 1: have faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ if you
- 12:20Speaker 1: favor some people over others. For example, suppose someone comes
- 12:25Speaker 1: into your meeting dressed in fancy clothes and expensive jewelry,
- 12:30Speaker 1: and another comes in who is poor and dressed in
- 12:33Speaker 1: dirty clothes. If you give special attention and a good
- 12:38Speaker 1: seat to the rich person, but you say to the
- 12:41Speaker 1: poor one, well you can stand over there, or else
- 12:44Speaker 1: sit on the floor. Well, doesn't this discrimination show that
- 12:49Speaker 1: your judgments are guided by evil motives? Listen to me,
- 12:53Speaker 1: dear brothers and sisters. Hasn't God chosen the poor in
- 12:56Speaker 1: this world to be rich in faith? Aren't they the
- 13:00Speaker 1: ones who will inherit the kingdom he promised to those
- 13:02Speaker 1: who love him. But you dishonor the poor? Isn't it
- 13:07Speaker 1: the rich who oppress you and drag you into court.
- 13:10Speaker 1: Aren't they the ones who slander Jesus Christ, whose noble
- 13:14Speaker 1: name you bear? So James invites us to imagine a
- 13:21Speaker 1: church service, a worship assembly in which a billionaire walks
- 13:27Speaker 1: in the door. His tan is Caribbean, his suit is
- 13:34Speaker 1: white linen, and his hat is Panamanian. It's as if
- 13:38Speaker 1: the Great Gatsby himself has come to church. The people
- 13:44Speaker 1: turn and stare. They know who this man is. The
- 13:49Speaker 1: ushers scurry down the aisle and tell the people on
- 13:53Speaker 1: the front road to get up and leave so that
- 13:56Speaker 1: our special guest can have the best seat. The pastor,
- 14:03Speaker 1: who stands in front of the church, having just begun
- 14:06Speaker 1: his introduction, stops everything and he issues a verbal personal
- 14:12Speaker 1: warm welcome to this man who has bling bling on
- 14:16Speaker 1: his fingers and hopefully has a check book in his pocket,
- 14:22Speaker 1: who can write a great check to the church. Everybody
- 14:27Speaker 1: notices the rich man. No one notices the common man.
- 14:37Speaker 1: He is dressed in shabby clothes, as James says, in
- 14:42Speaker 1: dirty clothes. He walked a long distance from the homeless
- 14:50Speaker 1: shelter to come to the church. He carries in his possessions.
- 14:57Speaker 1: He carries all of his possessions in a grocery sack,
- 15:02Speaker 1: and he's doing his best to turn away from the
- 15:06Speaker 1: bottle and toward the Bible. But the pivot is not easy,
- 15:14Speaker 1: and the cool reception that he receives at the church
- 15:18Speaker 1: makes it even more difficult. Now, James is not tolerant
- 15:24Speaker 1: of this type of favoritism, and his comments directed toward
- 15:30Speaker 1: the early church boy they land like hand grenades on
- 15:36Speaker 1: the congregation. He accuses them of evil motives. He reminds
- 15:41Speaker 1: him that the poor in this world are rich in faith,
- 15:46Speaker 1: a reason that they should be welcomed in the church.
- 15:49Speaker 1: And then he has a bit of a cryptic comment.
- 15:52Speaker 1: He says, the rich are the ones who take you
- 15:55Speaker 1: to court. I don't know what he was talking about.
- 15:57Speaker 1: There may be some specific event they would all remember,
- 16:01Speaker 1: or maybe just a plan a practice that was typical
- 16:05Speaker 1: of the day. But this much is clear. James detests
- 16:11Speaker 1: he hates favoritism. It's easy to see why. Remember James
- 16:19Speaker 1: was none other than a half brother of the Lord
- 16:22Speaker 1: Jesus Christ, and initially he was an unbeliever in the
- 16:27Speaker 1: Gospel of John we read, for even his own brothers
- 16:33Speaker 1: did not believe in him. He was an unbeliever. He
- 16:39Speaker 1: didn't believe that his brother was who his brother said. However,
- 16:43Speaker 1: sometime in that period of forty days, in between the
- 16:47Speaker 1: resurrection of Jesus and the ascension of Jesus into Heaven,
- 16:52Speaker 1: look what happened. Jesus appeared to whom, to James and
- 17:01Speaker 1: to all the apostles. I'm wondering if this direct reference
- 17:05Speaker 1: to Jesus appearing to James suggests that Jesus sought James out,
- 17:13Speaker 1: sought James out even though James had been maybe he
- 17:17Speaker 1: still was at this time an unbeliever. But now James
- 17:22Speaker 1: saw his brother Jesus. They had exited the same womb
- 17:30Speaker 1: of Mary, and now Jesus had exited the tomb of
- 17:35Speaker 1: Joseph of Arimathea, and James became a believer. What stories
- 17:44Speaker 1: he could tell about Jesus. They grew up in the
- 17:48Speaker 1: same house, They might have wrestled in the same yard.
- 17:53Speaker 1: They surely slept in the same room. He knew that
- 17:57Speaker 1: Jesus was fully human, But now, having witnessed the resurrected Christ,
- 18:03Speaker 1: he knew that Christ was fully divine. And this god man,
- 18:08Speaker 1: this Jesus, the Christ, made a special appearance to receive James,
- 18:15Speaker 1: and James says that the one who has received us
- 18:21Speaker 1: is an example, having been received by Christ, should we
- 18:27Speaker 1: not receive others? If anybody could claim to be treated
- 18:34Speaker 1: as a favorite, it could have been James right. He
- 18:38Speaker 1: could have claimed, hey, I grew up with our Lord,
- 18:42Speaker 1: but he makes no reference to that. In fact, he
- 18:44Speaker 1: calls for a wide open door for all people, whether
- 18:48Speaker 1: they believe or struggle to believe to be received, whether
- 18:54Speaker 1: they're affluent or poor, whether they're healthy or sick, whether
- 18:59Speaker 1: they seem to have it all together or quite candidly
- 19:03Speaker 1: don't have anything together. He says, we need to receive
- 19:07Speaker 1: one another. Jesus made room for us, dare we not
- 19:11Speaker 1: do the same for others? No partiality is permitted at
- 19:17Speaker 1: all period. There, we who have been received by Christ
- 19:21Speaker 1: refuse to receive others who search for Christ. And there
- 19:27Speaker 1: we who have benefited from the greatest work of God
- 19:30Speaker 1: not be willing to do our best to do good
- 19:32Speaker 1: works for God. This is James's second point. The second
- 19:37Speaker 1: point is the impossibility of inactivity. Again, he begins this
- 19:45Speaker 1: section the same way my brothers and sisters, as if
- 19:50Speaker 1: signaling that we're continuing but moving into a slightly different topic.
- 19:55Speaker 1: If people say they have faith but do nothing. Their
- 19:58Speaker 1: faith is worth nothing. Can faith like that save them?
- 20:05Speaker 1: A brother or sister in Christ might need clothes or food.
- 20:09Speaker 1: If you say that person, if you say to that person,
- 20:12Speaker 1: God be with you, I hope you will stay warm
- 20:15Speaker 1: and get plenty to eat. But you do not give
- 20:19Speaker 1: them what that person needs. Your words are worth nothing.
- 20:23Speaker 1: In the same way, faith by itself that does nothing
- 20:29Speaker 1: is dead. Someone might say, you have faith, but I
- 20:32Speaker 1: have deeds. Show me your faith without doing anything, and
- 20:36Speaker 1: I will show you my faith by what I do.
- 20:39Speaker 1: You believe that there is one God good, but the
- 20:42Speaker 1: demons believe that too, and they tremble with fear. You,
- 20:46Speaker 1: foolish person, Must you be shown that faith, it does nothing,
- 20:51Speaker 1: is worth nothing. Now this passage, in a sense, seems
- 20:59Speaker 1: to pop James against the Apostle Paul. Remember the Apostle
- 21:06Speaker 1: Paul is the one who championed faith, that we are
- 21:10Speaker 1: saved by faith alone in Christ alone. We wonder would
- 21:16Speaker 1: James disagree with the statement like this from the pen
- 21:19Speaker 1: of the Apostle Paul. We maintain that man is justified
- 21:23Speaker 1: by faith apart from the works of the law. James
- 21:29Speaker 1: seems to champion works Paul seems to champion faith. Are
- 21:34Speaker 1: they at odds one with the other, not at all?
- 21:39Speaker 1: The message of Paul is addressing before conversion. The message
- 21:45Speaker 1: of James is addressing life after conversion. In no way
- 21:51Speaker 1: do good works save us. Let's be clear, good works
- 21:56Speaker 1: in no way save us. Good works, however, are a
- 22:00Speaker 1: sign of the saved. How can we, who have been
- 22:04Speaker 1: made right by God's grace not seek to lead righteous lives?
- 22:12Speaker 1: Salvation by grace through faith is the root works that
- 22:20Speaker 1: honor God. Are the fruits We know we have been
- 22:24Speaker 1: saved because of the deeds of our lives, and others
- 22:28Speaker 1: know this, and we others know this as well. Well.
- 22:33Speaker 1: James wants us to envision another scenario. This time he
- 22:38Speaker 1: wants us to imagine a person who is in need,
- 22:41Speaker 1: a brother or sister who is in need, who knows why.
- 22:46Speaker 1: Maybe they're in between jobs, maybe they've never had a job,
- 22:52Speaker 1: Maybe they made the mistake and got into debt. Maybe
- 22:55Speaker 1: they've got mortgage payments up to their eyeballs for whatever reason,
- 23:00Speaker 1: in a difficult circumstance so difficult that they need clothing,
- 23:04Speaker 1: they even need food. James warns us against empty words.
- 23:12Speaker 1: He warns us against that strategy that goes to the
- 23:17Speaker 1: person and says, oh, may God bless you in your
- 23:19Speaker 1: time of need, May you be warm, may you be filled,
- 23:24Speaker 1: but does nothing. He warns us against that. Now, Blessings
- 23:29Speaker 1: are good, but blessings don't buy blankets A Blessings don't
- 23:36Speaker 1: stalk a pantry. A blessings don't help somebody make a
- 23:41Speaker 1: car payment. Blessings are good, but blessings without deeds are empty.
- 23:47Speaker 1: Empty words are a sign of an empty faith. A
- 23:52Speaker 1: frontier preacher happened across a friend whose horse had been
- 23:56Speaker 1: accidentally killed. A crowd of onlookers had got it around,
- 24:01Speaker 1: each of whom was expressing their sympathy toward the man
- 24:04Speaker 1: who had just lost his horse. The country preacher said,
- 24:08Speaker 1: I'm sorry as well. In fact, i'm sorry five dollars worth.
- 24:15Speaker 1: How much is your sorry worth? He said to the others.
- 24:21Speaker 1: It's one thing to say i'm sorry. It's another thing
- 24:24Speaker 1: to help somebody. The Apostle Paul agreed with this. There's
- 24:29Speaker 1: no contradiction here, The Apostle Paul said. Grace teaches us
- 24:34Speaker 1: grace truly received as a life led differently, it teaches
- 24:38Speaker 1: us it teaches us not to live against God, nor
- 24:42Speaker 1: to do the evil things that the world wants us
- 24:44Speaker 1: to do. Instead, that grace teaches us to live in
- 24:48Speaker 1: the present age in a wise and right way that
- 24:53Speaker 1: shows we serve God. So grace appropriately received results in
- 25:01Speaker 1: a life that honors God. Again, we're not saved by
- 25:05Speaker 1: what we do, but being saved changes in effects what
- 25:12Speaker 1: we do. And as I bring this message to a close,
- 25:16Speaker 1: can I say that grace not only changes what we do,
- 25:19Speaker 1: it changes the way we look at the challenges of life.
- 25:25Speaker 1: It creates a sense of assurance, a sense of peace,
- 25:29Speaker 1: and boy do we need it today. The great affliction
- 25:33Speaker 1: of our day is anxiety. This is the most anxious
- 25:38Speaker 1: nation in the history of the world. We've begin assuming this,
- 25:43Speaker 1: but now we are documenting this. In twenty eighteen, the
- 25:48Speaker 1: American Psychiatric Association revealed a study that indicated that fifty
- 25:56Speaker 1: one percent of Americans described themselves as anxious. Fifty one percent.
- 26:03Speaker 1: For the first time. We've tipped the scales over the
- 26:07Speaker 1: fifty percent mark, and the land of stars and stripes
- 26:11Speaker 1: has become the land of stress and strife. We're anxious,
- 26:17Speaker 1: and our anxiety is stealing our peace and robbing our
- 26:21Speaker 1: sleep and hurting our health and invading our relationships. We
- 26:28Speaker 1: are anxious people. Have I told you that story about
- 26:32Speaker 1: the men who went to the doctor and the doctor said,
- 26:35Speaker 1: what's wrong? He said, well, I'm having this weird dream.
- 26:39Speaker 1: One night I dream I'm a pup tent. The other night,
- 26:42Speaker 1: I dream I'm a teepee. The doctor said, well, I
- 26:46Speaker 1: see your problem. You're too tense. Tough crowd, tough crowd.
- 27:02Speaker 1: We're all two tents. We're all two tents in these studies.
- 27:08Speaker 1: The study I'm referring to, of course, predates coronavirus. Imagine
- 27:14Speaker 1: what results would find were we to take such a
- 27:19Speaker 1: study today. Here's my belief. I believe that Satan peddles anxiety.
- 27:26Speaker 1: I believe he traffics in fear. I believe that he
- 27:31Speaker 1: runs a language school dedicated to teaching one topic, the
- 27:37Speaker 1: language of anxiety. And down in the bowels of hell,
- 27:44Speaker 1: there is a cavern that serves as a classroom for
- 27:49Speaker 1: demons who are being trained, And that there is a professor,
- 27:54Speaker 1: a lieutenant of the devil himself, who stalks about in
- 28:00Speaker 1: the room, teaching his students, his minions, his demons, the
- 28:05Speaker 1: fine art of parlaying fear. And he points his bony
- 28:11Speaker 1: finger in the air, and he speaks to a snarl, saying,
- 28:16Speaker 1: you must sow seeds of distress in the minds of
- 28:21Speaker 1: these children of God. Their target are not unbelievers, Satan
- 28:29Speaker 1: already has them. Their target is you. And according to
- 28:38Speaker 1: the training manual, and according to the three words written
- 28:41Speaker 1: on the white board of the language classroom, the strategy
- 28:47Speaker 1: is exaggerate, overstate and amplify. Exaggerate every problem, overstate every issue,
- 28:55Speaker 1: and amplify every concern. Wake them up in the middle
- 29:00Speaker 1: of the night. Better still, don't let them go to
- 29:04Speaker 1: sleep at all. Create within them an addiction to news.
- 29:12Speaker 1: Let them find fear on CNN and Fox and MSNBC.
- 29:19Speaker 1: Keep their Bibles closed, keep them out of church, keep
- 29:25Speaker 1: them listening to other anxious voices, so that they then
- 29:30Speaker 1: can communicate this anxiety to others, because, as we all know,
- 29:36Speaker 1: fear is the most contagious virus. I'm wondering, are they
- 29:47Speaker 1: whispering in your ear? If so, your Lord Jesus gives
- 29:55Speaker 1: you this invitation cast all your anxiety on him. Why
- 30:05Speaker 1: because he cares. Because he cares. It is not his
- 30:12Speaker 1: will that you go through life weighed down with anxiety
- 30:20Speaker 1: and worry. And he will help you find a life
- 30:24Speaker 1: that is peace full as opposed to panic marked. One
- 30:33Speaker 1: way he does this is by giving us promises. In fact,
- 30:38Speaker 1: he urges us to remember his promises. There is one time,
- 30:42Speaker 1: in fact, in the Old Testament, in the Book of Isaiah,
- 30:45Speaker 1: he says, through Isaiah, put the Lord in remembrance of
- 30:48Speaker 1: his promises. Keep not silence. In other words, pray like
- 30:51Speaker 1: we prayed out of promises of Psalm ninety one. Remember Lord,
- 30:56Speaker 1: you said this another time, God himself said, put me
- 31:00Speaker 1: in remembrance. Let's contend together. You don't have to contend
- 31:04Speaker 1: by yourself. You don't have to fight this by yourself.
- 31:08Speaker 1: He will fight with you. He will walk with you.
- 31:11Speaker 1: Put me in remembrance. You said, Lord, you would never
- 31:15Speaker 1: leave me or forsake me. You said, Lord that you
- 31:18Speaker 1: would walk me through the valley of the shadow of death.
- 31:22Speaker 1: You said, Lord, that you would walk me through the waters.
- 31:26Speaker 1: You said, Lord, Let your prayer be marked with you, said,
- 31:30Speaker 1: you said, you said, And let your time be spent
- 31:34Speaker 1: meditating on the great and precious promises of God. Find
- 31:38Speaker 1: a promise that fits your problem and build your prayer
- 31:42Speaker 1: around it. How many of you think that we could
- 31:45Speaker 1: use a quorum of people in our society whose lives
- 31:48Speaker 1: are marked by promises and not by panic. Maybe you
- 31:54Speaker 1: could be that person in your schoolroom. The Apostle Paul says,
- 32:00Speaker 1: let your gentleness be made evident to all. Let your
- 32:04Speaker 1: gentleness In Philippians four, that passage can also be translated,
- 32:09Speaker 1: let your cool headedness you When everybody else is losing,
- 32:14Speaker 1: they're cooled, You're keeping yours. You're the one who, in
- 32:17Speaker 1: the midst of the anxiety says, yes, but God, But
- 32:21Speaker 1: God is still on the throne, But God is still
- 32:24Speaker 1: in control. But God is still with us. I know
- 32:27Speaker 1: these are tough times, and He never calls upon us
- 32:30Speaker 1: to be naive or blind or foolish. But he calls
- 32:35Speaker 1: upon us to be people of faith, people who simply trust,
- 32:40Speaker 1: people who believe that our God is still a good
- 32:42Speaker 1: God and that he will walk us through. And our
- 32:46Speaker 1: society is in dire need. Your family perhaps is in
- 32:50Speaker 1: dire need. Your workforce, perhaps, your schoolroom perhaps is in
- 32:55Speaker 1: need of a few people who will come in with
- 32:58Speaker 1: a voice of faith, the voice of faith, and help
- 33:02Speaker 1: others deal with the fear. Would you be one of
- 33:06Speaker 1: those people? Would you move forward in faith? I believe
- 33:10Speaker 1: that James would call upon us to be a community
- 33:13Speaker 1: of courage, a community of hope, to place our trust
- 33:18Speaker 1: as those in Rome did in AD two fifty one,
- 33:22Speaker 1: in the Living God, and that as a result, would
- 33:25Speaker 1: give us courage to move into the future. Jesus said this.
- 33:30Speaker 1: We close with his words. He said, live so people
- 33:35Speaker 1: will see the good things you do. The good things
- 33:40Speaker 1: you do, and praise your Father in heaven. No favoritism
- 33:50Speaker 1: toward the rich, no neglect of the poor, and no
- 33:56Speaker 1: fear of the future. I think that's a pretty good
- 34:01Speaker 1: description of a good life, don't you amen.
- 34:28Speaker 2: That's all that is, endless, so whid so.
- 34:35Speaker 1: But somehow I'm still lost in you.
- 34:56Speaker 3: The streets are full of moving shadow, countless place as
- 35:02Speaker 3: I could go, city shining, people passing. Yet I still
- 35:09Speaker 3: feel so lone. Every world keeps leading nowhere. Every sky
- 35:16Speaker 3: feels cold and blue. In this world so fast and open,
- 35:22Speaker 3: I'm still lost in missing you.
- 35:26Speaker 2: The world is wid so wid before me, but I
- 35:36Speaker 2: keep blues in my way somewhere in.
- 35:45Speaker 4: Less dis us. Your memory makes misty.
- 35:55Speaker 2: The world moves.
- 35:59Speaker 4: Without us, but my heart remains unshoe.
- 36:09Speaker 2: For no matter where.
- 36:11Speaker 4: These feet they.
- 36:13Speaker 3: Wonder I'm still lost in saying you. I have tried
- 36:24Speaker 3: to outrun silence, try to leave your ghost behind, but
- 36:31Speaker 3: your name still echo softly.
- 36:34Speaker 1: Through the corners of my mind.
- 36:39Speaker 4: The world is wide so y before me, but I
- 36:48Speaker 4: keep loves in my way somewhere in lestess. Your man
- 37:02Speaker 4: movie makes me stay the world without us, But my
- 37:15Speaker 4: heart ringmame some shoe.
- 37:21Speaker 1: From.
- 37:21Speaker 4: No matter where these feet may wonder, I'm still lost
- 37:31Speaker 4: in seeing you. Maybe someday stop searching for your face
- 37:40Speaker 4: in every crowd, But until that day, this broken heart
- 37:46Speaker 4: will keep calling your name out. The world is wise,
- 37:54Speaker 4: so why before me, But I keep losing my way
- 38:06Speaker 4: somewhere indeed less distance your memory thanks me stand The
- 38:20Speaker 4: world moves without us, but my heart remains some insue.
- 38:33Speaker 1: Do.
- 38:34Speaker 4: No matter when these feet may you wonder, I'm still
- 38:42Speaker 4: lost in this sh