Thursday, November 22, 2007

WHAT ARE YOU THANKFUL FOR?


During the Service last Sunday, I passed out a short piece of paper. I asked the people to finish the sentence:

I THANK GOD FOR _________________ .

Here is a sampling of what was on their hearts.
I THANK GOD FOR my brother.
I THANK GOD FOR Your Sacrifice.
I THANK GOD FOR His Loving Care everyday.
I THANK GOD FOR listening to my prayers.
I THANK GOD FOR (that I could) come here today.
I THANK GOD FOR giving me special friends.
I THANK GOD FOR my family. (many wrote this)
I THANK GOD FOR His Grace, Mercy and Faithfulness.
I THANK GOD FOR giving us Jesus, His Son.
I THANK GOD FOR dying on the Cross for my sins.
I THANK GOD FOR (amazing) friends that I can rely on.
I THANK GOD FOR mak(ing) me a conqueror.
I THANK GOD FOR children who love Jesus.
I THANK GOD FOR I job I enjoy doing.
I THANK GOD FOR a wife who is supportive and faithful.
I THANK GOD FOR God’s Word.
I THANK GOD FOR sending is this Church.
I THANK GOD FOR adopting me as His son.
I THANK GOD FOR my mother-in-law.
I THANK GOD FOR (the fact) Alex Rodriguez is still playing for the Yankees.
I THANK GOD FOR His Word.
I THANK GOD FOR the knowledge I am not alone.

What would you write down to this?
I THANK GOD FOR _____________________ .
For many, this is Thanksgiving week. In fact, from my tradition, TODAY is Thanksgiving Day. Turkey, pumpkin pie, sweet potato, gravy, cranberry sauce, and stuffing all being eaten during half time of some football game. But, please, there is so much more to be thankful for. For many, this Thanksgiving week is very hard or difficult or even life threatening. Take some time today and speak to the Creator God of the Bible and give Him thanks for His Great love and for His great Gift of His Son, Jesus, who came to earth to pay our price for our sins. His forgiveness is something we can sure be thankful.
I THANK GOD FOR __________________ .

Under His Grace.
Pastor Stan

WHAT ARE YOU THANKFUL FOR?

During the Service last Sunday, I passed out a short piece of paper. I asked the people to finish the sentence:

I THANK GOD FOR _________________ .

Here is a sampling of what was on their hearts.
I THANK GOD FOR my brother.
I THANK GOD FOR Your Sacrifice.
I THANK GOD FOR His Loving Care everyday.
I THANK GOD FOR listening to my prayers.
I THANK GOD FOR (that I could) come here today.
I THANK GOD FOR giving me special friends.
I THANK GOD FOR my family. (many wrote this)
I THANK GOD FOR His Grace, Mercy and Faithfulness.
I THANK GOD FOR giving us Jesus, His Son.
I THANK GOD FOR dying on the Cross for my sins.
I THANK GOD FOR (amazing) friends that I can rely on.
I THANK GOD FOR mak(ing) me a conqueror.
I THANK GOD FOR children who love Jesus.
I THANK GOD FOR I job I enjoy doing.
I THANK GOD FOR a wife who is supportive and faithful.
I THANK GOD FOR God’s Word.
I THANK GOD FOR sending is this Church.
I THANK GOD FOR adopting me as His son.
I THANK GOD FOR my mother-in-law.
I THANK GOD FOR (the fact) Alex Rodriguez is still playing for the Yankees.
I THANK GOD FOR His Word.
I THANK GOD FOR the knowledge I am not alone.

What would you write down to this?
I THANK GOD FOR _____________________ .
For many, this is Thanksgiving week. In fact, from my tradition, TODAY is Thanksgiving Day. Turkey, pumpkin pie, sweet potato, gravy, cranberry sauce, and stuffing all being eaten during half time of some football game. But, please, there is so much more to be thankful for. For many, this Thanksgiving week is very hard or difficult or even life threatening. Take some time today and speak to the Creator God of the Bible and give Him thanks for His Great love and for His great Gift of His Son, Jesus, who came to earth to pay our price for our sins. His forgiveness is something we can sure be thankful.
I THANK GOD FOR __________________ .

Under His Grace.
Pastor Stan

Sunday, November 18, 2007

The Storm from Acts 27:27~44

Plan for a problem ||| ~Acts 27:27-44~

Going thru life—going somewhere: Go to a certain city…

James 4:12-14 13 Now listen, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money." 14 Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.

Paul had been attacked, plotted and ambushed…all on his way to speak before Caesar. He was granted safe passage to Rome by the Roman government—and faced his greatest challenge to date: a storm at sea. (At that time, Paul was not thinking of having a shipwreck but of the possibilities of an audience with the King.) Would natural forces do what human opposition had not been able to do — hinder the gracious purposes of Paul to preach the Gospel in Rome? Certainly, he was sent there? It was God’s will for him. Why the problems along the way?

Good question. If you are following God’s plan for your life—or even willing to be used of God, why the hardships?
Part of life and part of the mysteries of Life. Live with it ! Don’t look for an easy way out of life. In fact, He promised us hard times if we follow Him.

John 14:26 Peace I leave with you; My peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.
John 16:33 "I have told you these things, so that in Me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world."

Life with Jesus at the center just makes sense. He gives more peace and carries our burdens. Fact is, His way; the Way of the Cross, is the Way His Father made us to follow.

How do you prepare for a storm? Paul and his shipmates did some prep before and during the storm. Looking at the verses from Acts 27:13-20, we can see how they readied themselves for the storm. They took four steps to cope with the storm. (Acts 27:16-19)

Ask yourself, what steps do you take to ready yourself for the storms of life? Is it “I’d deal with it then?”

It was a dark and stormy night. No stars to guide them at night and no sun to guide them by day. They could have abandoned hope but…when we are in similar situations, we might want to give up.

The men went for 14 days without eating. This was a voluntary fast. Could not eat, or maybe nothing to eat, but made them hungry and prone to mistakes.

The first thing the men did was to sail on the protected side of the island and tie their dinghy on board. This could be used to save lives later. (Thinking ahead was important.)

The second action they took was to tie rope under and around the ship to keep it together. It was called FRAPPING the ship. Under-girding the ship with cables running vertically under and around its center hull 4-5 times strengthens the hull against the pounding waves.

Thirdly, the lower the sea anchor which was a wide piece of wood floating behind them keeping them both steady and on course.

Lastly, they lightened the load on the ship by throwing overboard unnecessary poundage so as to keep the ship from being hurt from onboard materials.

Even after all this, they started to feel that all was lost. When the followers of Jesus saw what they saw on that day He was arrested, can you feel what they were experiencing? Lostness. Being let down. Dread.

Luke 23:35-39 The people stood there staring at Jesus, and the ringleaders made faces, taunting, "He saved others. Let's see Him save Himself! The Messiah of God—ha! The Chosen—ha!" 36-37The soldiers also came up and poked fun at Him, making a game of it. They toasted Him with sour wine: "So you're King of the Jews! Save Yourself!" 38Printed over Him was a sign: this is the king of the Jews. 39One of the criminals hanging alongside cursed Him: "Some Messiah You are! Save yourself! Save us!"

All was lost, or so it seemed…

When do we abandon hope? We might have a terrible knowledge that we may not get out alive. Many are finding themselves in such a case today: disoriented in emotion, relational, social or physical storms come and affect our thinking.

What to do? Make a plan of attack! Let's consider FOUR Principles…

First Principle: The Journey of life can’t be missed. The travel is all about the attitude of the heart not just the sights along the way.

Paul was active and even proactive during this trip. He befriended the centurion Julius. Was called on for advice—not always followed…he was involved in the journey!

Let the experiences of your life just add color to the ride not discolor it. Getting to the goal is only the end of the trip. The ‘thing’ of life that we touch along the way is important as they help mold our character. Look at the life of Moses and see how he had long periods of waiting. 40 years to become someone important in Egypt—killed a man and fled for his life. Dashed! 40 years living that down and becoming a shepherd of some smelly herd of sheep in the backcountry. 40 more years as the head shepherd for the stubborn herd of the Hebrew Children. All of his life experiences were added together to make him the Man of God he was made to be. If anyone of those 40 years were not spent in that way, he would not have been just right for the job. Not easy but when it comes to accounting for his life, he did not come up short. He was just the kind of man God needed to lead His People Israel.

He may not have been aware of a plan but God was putting it all together and now, we can learn from Moses’ life about how to prepare for a storm. 40 years at a time!

Principle #2; TEAMing is far better than alone.
• Paul's traveling companions include at least Dr. Luke and a Macedonian Christian (Acts 19:29; 20:4; Col 4:10, 14; Philemon 24)

Moses had his band of helpers. David had his 50 Men of Valor. Esther had her uncle Mordecai. Job had Eliphaz, Bildad, Zophar, and his wife…not always helpful team, but a team nonetheless. Daniel had Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Jesus had His inner circle of friends. Paul had Timothy. You have…who ? The small group is a possibility!

A three strand of rope is stronger than a single one. Oh, it may be exciting to be alone against the world. Makes good drama and movies but the energy expelled way out weights the results.

Ecclesiastes 4:12 Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.
• Consider the Samurai and the ant.

MUSASHI by Eiji Yoshikawa has many exciting stories of one man against MANY. The day will come when his strength and wisdom will fail and he will die! But the excitement. The cunning! The reality of not being able to win…!

Being alone may sound like a great way to live a life—but we are created in community with each other. There must be community. We are made in His likeness. We are made to reflect Him and to reflect Him is to show unity and community.

The ant, however…Prov 6:6 Go to the ant, you sluggard; consider its ways and be wise! 7 It has no commander, no overseer or ruler, 8 yet it stores its provisions in summer and gathers its food at harvest.

In short, an ant works together. Now, we are not to be mindless like the ant. Just pick up this piece of bread crumb and take it over there, with no other joy or purpose but as the writer would want his reader to note, the ant works together and it has a plan. By God’s design.

In contrast to Jesus' suffering, Paul knows relief both from a centurion who shows kindness and from the companionship of friends on board and along the way. The importance of the support of Christian friends should not be underestimated.
Someone who can walk with you. Hold you up. Question you. Keep you accountable. Ask the hard questions. Thus, the ICCS small group! Look around-anyone who is not in a group could become your community!

Principle #3: Moving is better than sitting still. Here is tendency of going backward or fall off the platform of obedience.
Sometimes the travel is slow. Sometimes it is just plodding along.

•--The ship, moving at a speed of three knots, covers the sixty-nine nautical miles to Sidon in twenty-three hours.
•–-On board for 14 days, in the storm, without eating, not knowing if they were going to live or die—just holding on to life!

Can you be content with luke warm water… Do things NEED to be hard or difficult to make you feel you are doing something? If things are going too well for you, you might feel that He is going to hit you. That He is just letting you go for a season and THEN “POP!” you one on the head!

What kind of a God is He anyway? Is He like man that has a wicked heart. See Genesis 8:21 New Living Translation: 21 And the Lord was pleased with the aroma of the sacrifice and said to Himself, “I will never again curse the ground because of the human race, even though everything they think or imagine is bent toward evil from childhood. I will never again destroy all living things. Life takes time—let it!

Principle #4: Suffering is part of the gain.

“No pain no gain?” How true. If we won the lottery and was handed $100,000 today—lose out with the process. Tend to loose direction. But if you work for it, the Lord has time to work in your life to develop His character in you. We are made in His image. God is pleased when we reflect His Son.

The Bible is clear that God loves us very much. This is a point of THANKS. He wants to help us become “conformed to the likeness of His Son.” Romans 8:29

Peter expresses that through God’s wonderful promises we "may participate in the divine nature." 2 Peter 1:4 “Through these He has given us His very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.”

What does this mean? The truth of what God is doing in us is not lost in the year of wandering or of storms or of victories. We are being transformed and conformed. We are active members of His Band: participants not just the audience! It all has to do with being a whole person.

Look at 1 Thessalonians 5:23. 23 May God Himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

He is at work in us to give us His Peace and to sanctify or set aside for Him, in every way. AND to work in our members—our inside, our mind and heart——our kokoro (こころ)—to bring us close to Him.

1. He has given us a MIND for reasoning things out; to process information.
2. He has given into us a WILL for making choices.
3. And He has given us EMOTIONS for expressing our feelings.

Even though this is how we are made, there is a problem. The reality of how sin works deeply complicates the situation. Sin did not just separate us from our Creator and from each other, sin also did it job on separating these three human factors to work against the whole. Sin severely divided, damaged and distorted humans by working against our mind, our will and our emotions. There has been a MAJOR thievery.

Remember John 10:10? The Message: “A thief is only there to steal and kill and destroy. I came so they can have real and eternal life, more and better life than they ever dreamed of.”

So, how do we prepare for the storms of life? By being ready in our spirit and that means being transformed by the Power of Christ. The storms may come but the soul is saved. That makes a big difference in life.

Romans 12:2 Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

2 Corinthians 3:18 And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into His likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.

(Verses used in this sermon.
Acts 27:27-44 Jam. 4:12-14 John 14:26 John 16:33 Acts 27:16-19
Lk 23:35-39 Ecc 4:12 Prov 6:6 Gen 8:21 Rom 8:29
2 Peter 1:4 1 Thess. 5:23 John 10:10 Rom 12:2 2 Cor 3:18)

Outline support from web site: Bible Gateway.

Next week: The Shipwreck: Acts 27:27~44. See you there!