Sunday Mornings WHAT’S IN YOUR HAND March 21st 2010
Excuses, excuses, you'll hear them every day.
And the Devil he'll supply them, if from church you stay away.
When people come to know the Lord, the Devil always loses
So to keep them folks away from church, he offers them excuses.
In the summer it's too hot. And, in the winter, it's too cold.
In the spring time when the weather's just right, you find some place else to go.
Well, it's up to the mountains or down to the beach or to visit some old friend.
Or, to just stay home and kinda relax and hope that some of the kin folks will drop in.
Well, the church benches are too hard. And, that choir sings way too loud.
Boy, you know how nervous you get when you're sitting in a great big crowd.
The doctor told you, "Now, you better watch them crowds. They'll set you back."
But, you go to that old ball game because you say "it helps you to relax."
Well, a headache Sunday morning and a backache Sunday night.
But by worktime Monday morning, you're feeling quite alright.
While one of the children has a cold, "Pneumonia, do you suppose?"
Why the whole family had to stay home, just to blow that poor kid's nose.
Well, the preacher he's too young. And, maybe he's too old.
The sermons they're not hard enough. And, maybe they're too bold.
His voice is much too quiet-like. Sometimes he gets too loud.
He needs to have more dignity. Or, else he's way too proud.
Well, the sermons they're too long. And, maybe they're too short.
He ought to preach the word with dignity instead of "stomp and snort."
Well, that preacher we've got must be "the world's most stuck up man."
Well, one of the lady's told me the other day, "Well, he didn't even shake my hand."
Exodus 4:1Moses answered, “What if they do not believe me or listen to me and say, ‘The LORD did not appear to you’?” 2Then the LORD said to him, “What is that in your hand?” “A staff,” he replied. 3The LORD said, “Throw it on the ground.” Moses threw it on the ground and it became a snake, and he ran from it. 4Then the LORD said to him, “Reach out your hand and take it by the tail.” So Moses reached out and took hold of the snake and it turned back into a staff in his hand.
Our society, in general, and the church in particular, has become deluded with impressions of insignificance. A rising crime rate, erection of walls of hate, the lapsing of integrity, and the drift into moral decadence. These are the seeds that give rise to an indifferent and cynical generation that say’s society is riding a fast train to hell and the tracks have been greased, and I cannot do a thing about it.
Moses was such a man:
• saved from abortion at birth
• fed the best food
• educated by the best and most learned teachers in the land
• he wore the best clothes
• he was trained in the skills of combat
• he was given every benefit, every opportunity
And, yet when he tried, he failed and he ran. 40 yrs. Egypt - 40 yrs. shepherd - 40 yrs.
Hey, Moses, now that you’ve learned. (Learned what?)
In the mathematical equation of the universe “God is the only figure that really counts.”
Without Him we are incomplete, but with Him there
is nothing we can not complete. The Apostle Paul said to the church at Philippi 4:13 I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength
Exodus 4. What is in your hand Moses? Just a staff (staff-snake), (staff stirs waters into blood), (staff divides the Red Sea), (Staff - water from a rock), (staff- Exodus 17:9 Moses said to Joshua, “Choose some of our men and go out to fight the Amalekites. Tomorrow I will stand on top of the hill with the staff of God in my hands.”
the staff of God When it belonged to Moses it was good for leaning on and poking sheep, but when Moses gave it to God it became much more.
I can not do much. I am not gifted with talents or abilities.
God is not looking at your ability, He is looking for your availability.
I Cor. 1:26 Brothers, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. 27But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. 28He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, 29so that no one may boast before him.
I love the story in the New Testament Bible book of Acts that describes an encounter the disciples Peter and John had with the Pharisee’s.
Acts 4:13 When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus.
Numbers 17:1-8 The Budding of Aaron's Staff
1 The LORD said to Moses, 2 "Speak to the Israelites and get twelve staffs from them, one from the leader of each of their ancestral tribes. Write the name of each man on his staff. 3 On the staff of Levi write Aaron's name, for there must be one staff for the head of each ancestral tribe. 4 Place them in the Tent of Meeting in front of the Testimony, where I meet with you. 5 The staff belonging to the man I choose will sprout, and I will rid myself of this constant grumbling against you by the Israelites."
6 So Moses spoke to the Israelites, and their leaders gave him twelve staffs, one for the leader of each of their ancestral tribes, and Aaron's staff was among them. 7 Moses placed the staffs before the LORD in the Tent of the Testimony. 8 The next day Moses entered the Tent of the Testimony and saw that Aaron's staff, which represented the house of Levi, had not only sprouted but had budded, blossomed and produced almonds.
Aaron’s staff flowered. God made a dead piece of wood spring to life, blossom, and even produce fruit. And He will do the same for you.
Let God give life to your dead dreams.
Andrew’s attitude (John 6) Jesus feeds five thousand. Lad with 5 loaves and 2 small fishes. What is this little bit when the need is so great?
Jesus took the 5 loaves and 2 fishes and fed 5,000
We are all about to enter a teaching moment.
God does not want or need what you don’t have. He’s already got it.
What He wants is what you have.
Not a follower of Christ? He wants your expression of faith in Him. Jesus I have sinned. Forgive me. Come into my life.
Are you already a follower of Christ? He wants that part of you that you consider insignificant, that part you’ve held back.
If it’s a stick.
If it’s a loaf of bread.
If it’s a fish.
Time
Talents
Treasures
Illustration. The story is told of little Joey - a boy born with club feet. The doctors had assured his parents that he would walk normally with treatment, but that he would never be able to run well. But the parents never told Joey this. Day after day he would join with the other kids, and try to run and play with them. Eventually, in 7th grade he even tried out for the cross country team, and made it. What was the reason the parents gave for Joey’s success? “We never told him he couldn’t do it.”
Dr. Amos Henry: (“You can push a pound.)
Stop making excuses about what you don’t have and give God what you have
