Can't Get Past Stuck 2023
Notes
Transcript
Intro:
Jesus had just given the disciples power an authority to cast out demons and heal all diseases and sent them out. Then, he feeds the 5000, Peter declares the He is the Messiah. Christ predicted his death. They saw Moses and Elijah and then a cloud spoke to them saying this is my son…listen to him. Christ was positioning them to be successful…then they were not...
Lifting the Rock
One day a father decided to take his son to play at the local park. The boy quickly gravitated to the sandbox and found himself mesmerized by the colors and textures surrounding him. After a short time, he began digging around to see what treasures might reveal themselves to him.
As his hands plunged under the sand he discovered something rather large, and having pushed enough of the sand away, realized it was a large rock. Instantly he knew he needed to move that rock, no matter how big it was. This rock was the obstacle to his dreams of a sandbox clear of all extraneous matter.
So the boy tried as hard as he could to move the rock. He pushed and pushed and pushed, and finally he was able to get it to the edge of the sandbox. But the next step would be the hardest. How could he get it over the edge? Again the boy pushed and pushed until his energy was completely fried. The rock’s stuckness matched the boy’s feelings of the situation. Eventually he started to sob.
The boy’s father watched all this, and just when the meltdown began, the father went over to his son and began to comfort his overtaxed, dejected son.
“Why didn’t you use all the strength available to you to move the rock?” the father asked.
The boy was confused, “I did daddy, it’s just too heavy.”
“No son,” you didn’t. You didn’t ask me to help.” And at that, the father lifted the rock with a single hand and tossed it out of the sandbox.
Did you see how the little boy was working to get the rock out of his way, but he just couldnt do it on his own.
Scripture:
Luke 9:44-45
37 The next day, after they had come down the mountain, a large crowd met Jesus.
38 A man in the crowd called out to him, “Teacher, I beg you to look at my son, my only child.
39 An evil spirit keeps seizing him, making him scream. It throws him into convulsions so that he foams at the mouth. It batters him and hardly ever leaves him alone.
40 I begged your disciples to cast out the spirit, but they couldn’t do it.”
41 Jesus said, “You faithless and corrupt people! How long must I be with you and put up with you?” Then he said to the man, “Bring your son here.”
42 As the boy came forward, the demon knocked him to the ground and threw him into a violent convulsion. But Jesus rebuked the evil spirit and healed the boy. Then he gave him back to his father.
43 Awe gripped the people as they saw this majestic display of God’s power. While everyone was marveling at everything he was doing, Jesus said to his disciples,
44 “Listen to me and remember what I say. The Son of Man is going to be betrayed into the hands of his enemies.”
45 But they didn’t know what he meant. Its significance was hidden from them, so they couldn’t understand it, and they were afraid to ask him about it.
Title and Prayer:
Can’t get past stuck
Application:
Stuck- a stoppage or standstill, or something causing delay or difficulty.
Lord we cant get past a stoppage, or standstill, or something causing a delay, or a difficulty.
We get stuck physically (our bodies)
We get stuck mentally (stuck in an old mindset) As a man thinketh, so is he.
Lord, sometimes I am just stuck
We get stuck financially (Stuck in debt)
We get stuck spiritually (Feel like God is not there)
Lord, sometimes I dont even know I am stuck.
We get stuck in the flesh (Always in our feelings) This is where most of us are.
Going thru life sometimes means delayed.
Stuck - Sometimes we are stuck at home, because of covid, because of church, because of the Pastor, because of how we think or dont think.
We get stuck in family drama. I had 8 siblings. Drama all day!
Sometimes we get stuck in success. Why do I need to grow? I already got past my last time I was stuck, Why do I need God now? I got stuff, all the stuff I been praying for.
Sometimes stuck means not moving as much - stuck in traffic, stuck in a mindset, stuck in a relationship, stuck in a job, stuck in a situation.
You see it is possible to be moving but yet still be stuck. I was living in a friend of mines basement and I felt stuck. I got up one Sunday, drove across town and joined a church. Then, went right back to that basement where I was right in the middle of being stuck.
Exegesis: (The four characters)
The Crowd - They are concerned about their stuff. There is always going to be background noise.
The Man - In a crowd but called out. Jesus just left from feeding the 5000.
They proly got more! Sometimes we have to rise above the noise.
The Son - He had to be obedient. Even when it seems like things arent quite right, we have to trust the Father
The Disciples - Although the Disciples were afraid to ask, they were still present. Tho He slay me, yet will I trust Him. Lord, I feel like I am stuck, but i still trust you. Being stuck is just temporary, but only if you have faith
Prov 13:12 “12 Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life.”
Benediction:
I am reminded of Saul while he was on the road to Damascus. After Christ blinded him, he was stuck. See we always look at the stoppage part of stuck. We dont see the prep work the God is doing in our lives to get us to where He wants us to be. I dont think the Disciples were thinking about what they were being taught. I dont think we dont often see how the stuck is where God wants us to be!
I believe God allows us to go thru times being stuck so that we can grow thru them. We will only grow to the last place we were stuck!
Life is designed to see how well you persevere! God wants to see if you will hold on when things are tough.
As we grow in faith, praying for the work of the Spirit in our lives, we will look back and see how our lives are becoming more fully devoted to Him—all for His glory.