Jan21 - Serentiy Prayer

Announcements

March for Life 2024

The National March for Life Jan 19th 2024 March for life theme: “We walk With Every Woman, For Every Child!” 10s of thousands at the capital in freezing cold weather, and snow to stand for life of our unborn. the Battle did not end with the end of Roe vs Wade. It just began.

access to the abortion pill, being distributed by mail. besides being almost 100 deadly to the unborn allowing abortion even in stated outlawing abortion. but the chemical abortion pill is 4x more dangerous on the mother, than surgical abortions… lowering tje bar on health standards. There is one party that is behind this 100%. (democrats( and another party that cant figure out what to do. (Republicans). But it is clear where anyone who loves God and loves life will be. We will not agree with the satanic power of death over america no matter what the politicians say. and we will vote our values - and expect Laws to defend the human rights, even when it is unpopular.

keep our eyes on jesus.

Tend24 - 24 hours of Prayer and Worship.

The fire must be kept burning on the altar continuously; it must not go out. Leviticus 6:13 We plan to meet with the other churches in our Foothills section, Friday Feb 9th 6 pm through Saturday to 6 pm. Can we do that?

(rally our congregations for a time of worship and prayer)

Message: The Serenity Prayer

Revelation study (Rev13:7-10)

Studying revelation we come across a very troubling passage:

after it introduces the Beast (Antichrist)

Revelation 13:7–10 ESV

Also it was allowed to make war on the saints and to conquer them. And authority was given it over every tribe and people and language and nation, and all who dwell on earth will worship it, everyone whose name has not been written before the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who was slain. If anyone has an ear, let him hear: If anyone is to be taken captive, to captivity he goes; if anyone is to be slain with the sword, with the sword must he be slain. Here is a call for the endurance and faith of the saints.

Free will vs. God’s Sovereignty

This passage may appear to touch on an issue of great debate over the years in the Church about Free will vs. God’s sovereignty. My point is not to debate that. I feel that both are absolutely true. We have free will or God would be unjust to punish or judge us for our decisions. But also God is Sovereign and there are events and things in this live that will happen no matter what we do or decide. The prophet of Jonah delivered a message to Nineveh Jonah 3:4. he called out, “Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!” - however because the people of Nineveh and it’s KING, believed God and repented, hoping for God’s mercy, God relented from the disaster that was prophesied. That disaster was something that the people of Nineveh and their free will could do something about. However, this passage in revelation appears to be the other kind. It looks to me like this passage deals with an event that is decided by god’s sovereignty and is unalterable.

Captivity and death.

This passage seams to indicate that God is allowing the Antichrist a huge amount of latitude, over the “saints” (God’s people), and (every tribe, people and language).

The antichrist will conquer them.

Looks like many will be in captivity

Looks like many will be slain

All who are not Saved (in the scroll of Life the Lamb has) Will worship προσκυνέω (proskyneō),

Note: Book = (Scroll/Book) are the translations of the same greek word “Biblio”.)

The authority appears to extend world-wide (Every tribe, people and language). I note however, that some Bible scholars would point out that this language may only include the nations of the known world of the first century as inclusive language elsewhere in the bible does not always include areas that are beyond the bible lands. This issue is inconsequential to my main point.

God allows hard things in our lives, for a purpose

My main point deals with this: GOD is allowing Hard things to happen to his people. “saints”, and it does not appear to be something that we can pray away. Instead it requires FAITH in GOD and ENDURANCE.

A loving God or a Moral Monster?

The passage is talking about things we would ordinarily take great pains to pray against, and assume is not GOD’s will. Yet it is clear in this passage that it is God’s will in this situation.

What does this say about an all-powerful all-loving God? The atheist argument against God is to point to the evil in the world and say an All-powerful all-loving God must stop evil. If there is evil, then it proves there is no all powerful loving God.

Most of us would not stop to correct their base assumption. But it is clearly wrong as this passage shows.

Of course our God is all-powerful and all-loving, and of course he could of stop the Antichrist from this horrific attack on the saints, that includes captivity and death.

The atheist would say then that God is a Moral Monster and they want no part of that God, and feel justified in turning their back and walking away from God.

Is God a moral monster?

Of course not. Therefore there must be a good greater than the evil that is being achieved by allowing this painful period of time for the saints.

Is that what the Bible is saying in revelation?

YES! The very 2nd half of the verse points to it!

Revelation 13:10 (ESV)

If anyone is to be taken captive, to captivity he goes; if anyone is to be slain with the sword, with the sword must he be slain.

Here is a call for the endurance and faith of the saints.

Endurance and Faith is produce a masterpiece

I know that those who hate God will not see this, until they see it lived out in front of them, there is a reason a loving God will allow his children to experience pain and suffering.

James (or Jacob in Hebrew), indicated that this was the case.

James 1:2–4 ESV

Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

these tries are turning you into a masterpiece… perfect, complete and lacking in nothing.

Do you know that word STEADFASTNESS here in this verse?

STEADFASTNESS = ὑπομονή -ῆς, ἡ; (hipo-mon ayē), N. endurance; perseverance.

this is the exact same word used in revelation 13:10, translated “endurance”

There would not be a call for endurance & FAITH, if there was not something better coming out of this horrible situation.

Revelation 15:2–4 ESV

And I saw what appeared to be a sea of glass mingled with fire—and also those who had conquered the beast and its image and the number of its name, standing beside the sea of glass with harps of God in their hands. And they sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, “Great and amazing are your deeds, O Lord God the Almighty! Just and true are your ways, O King of the nations! Who will not fear, O Lord, and glorify your name? For you alone are holy. All nations will come and worship you, for your righteous acts have been revealed.”

There is a reward. a sufficient reward for all that had “conquered the beast” (the antichrist). But how did they conquer? (with endurance and faith)

The Church of Philadelphia was given an open door (of evangelism I think it is clearly a door of evangelism in reaching the synagogue of satan, by keeping God’s word of “patient endurance”) Rev 3:9-10

Revelation 3:9–10 ESV

Behold, I will make those of the synagogue of Satan who say that they are Jews and are not, but lie—behold, I will make them come and bow down before your feet, and they will learn that I have loved you. Because you have kept my word about patient endurance, I will keep you from the hour of trial that is coming on the whole world, to try those who dwell on the earth.

The reward is they are kept from the hour of trial - but also that the the enemies of the church learn that 1) there is a God. and 2) that he loves his saints.

This is a powerful open door to salvation. This is the door that Christians in the last days are to use. By KEEPING their FAITH and ENDURING to the end.

It can be convincingly argued that this section of Revelation is potentially a special case. For it deals with a specific time during the domination of the Antichrist during the 3.5 years. Perhaps it is a special case like the case when God’s own son Jesus had to die on a cross to take away the sins of the world.?

Jesus prayed for that cup to pass… but was willing to take it.

Matthew 26:42 ESV

Again, for the second time, he went away and prayed, “My Father, if this cannot pass unless I drink it, your will be done.”

A Hospital is tough

I began asking God about this sermon over a week ago. and I eventually felt him direct me to a specific prayer, and it shocked me.

You see, i had the opportunity to spend the last 2 weeks in a Hospital. there are a lot of suffering people in a hospital, and they are enduring some difficult things. No one wants to be in a hospital.

The challenges that come from being sick, or losing a loved one, or loosing capabilities is difficult and can be frightening.

I had the opportunity to see both the effects of these difficulties on others as well as my Dad, and Myself. and it was painful at times. I prayed that it would go away. and that if it would not that God would make something Good come out of this situation.

There are steps in this life that are so hard for us to contemplate. We want to break down and fall apart.

they can paralyze us. so that we cant go on.

they can sink us so we drown.

But God is faithful.

He has walked these paths and knows the way.

Jesus Knows the Heavy Load

Jesus knows those heavy loads. He has faced them himself, for most of his life Jesus knew that the Cross awaited him. How hard was it for him to walk to Jerusalem. knowing that one day it would lead to the cross.

How hard was it for him to see the Romans crucifying another criminal knowing that one day it would be Him?

Wishing, and hoping that there was some other way to save Humanity?

All that sorrow and trouble came to a head one night before His crucifixion, in a lonely garden. Matthew 26:36–46

Matthew 26:36–46 ESV

Then Jesus went with them to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to his disciples, “Sit here, while I go over there and pray.” And taking with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, he began to be sorrowful and troubled. Then he said to them, “My soul is very sorrowful, even to death; remain here, and watch with me.” And going a little farther he fell on his face and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.” And he came to the disciples and found them sleeping. And he said to Peter, “So, could you not watch with me one hour? Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” Again, for the second time, he went away and prayed, “My Father, if this cannot pass unless I drink it, your will be done.” And again he came and found them sleeping, for their eyes were heavy. So, leaving them again, he went away and prayed for the third time, saying the same words again. Then he came to the disciples and said to them, “Sleep and take your rest later on. See, the hour is at hand, and the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. Rise, let us be going; see, my betrayer is at hand.”

what Jesus called a “cup” was the task of becoming the Lamb of God slain for the sins of the world. It was a hard task/cup.

Jesus God’s Son was willing to do His father’s will. to take the cup. It was hard. It was the hardest thing he ever did. But the end result was more Good that the universe has ever known.

A loving all-powerful GOD let his son be tortured to death in the most cruel way imaginable.

Hey atheists!… Don’t lecture God about what an all loving all powerful god can and can’t do. His perfect love and his perfect justice will cause him to do things you can’t yet imagine.

IN the last days, there will be occasions for God’s children to do things like that again. To walk into the future knowing that capture and death await them. But Like JESUS, the faithful among them will pray and will do two things.

Father, if possible let this cup pass from me.

Never the less not as I will but as you will.

The Serenity prayer

I began asking god about this sermon, I felt he was directing me to the “Serenity Prayer”. I could see how it was a powerful prayer.

It has various forms, but essentially it is this in it’s first known published form

O God, give us the serenity to accept what cannot be changed, the courage to change what can be changed, and the wisdom to know the one from the other. - in a book on Worship, attributed to Reinhold Niebuhr

I knew the prayer was not in the Bible and wondered about it’s history, and how true to God’s reveal word in the Bible it was.

In 1940, Wygal a lady who worked closely with the originator of this prayer, included the following form of the prayer in a book on worship, attributing it to of Reinhold Niebuhr:

O God, give us the serenity to accept what cannot be changed, the courage to change what can be changed, and the wisdom to know the one from the other.[25]

The author: Karl Paul Reinhold Niebuhr[a] (1892–1971) was an American Reformed theologian, ethicist, commentator on politics and public affairs, and professor at Union Theological Seminary for more than 30 years. Niebuhr was one of America's leading public intellectuals for several decades of the 20th century and received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1964. A public theologian, he wrote and spoke frequently about the intersection of religion, politics, and public policy, with his most influential books including Moral Man and Immoral Society and The Nature and Destiny of Man

from Wiki

Because Niebuhr was very influential in guiding the the civil rights moment. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr, studied Niebuhr writings, and quoted him often. Niebuhr has been well liked by the left and the right, but many prominent evil left-wing political people claim him as inspirational; Obama, John McCain, Hillary Clinton… making me wary of his influence.

Yet I note that most of these people will quote Jesus and the Bible also … so the heart of the issue is is the Prayer true to the revealed will of God?

O God, give us the serenity to accept what cannot be changed

Are there things that we cannot change?

Yes, but I feel that the message of the bible and the example of Jesus is that MOST things can be changed through prayer. ANd all change should be started in prayer. It is in Prayer that God will show you the plan of action. For a child of God, walking in the Spirit, there is no mountain to big.

Even so, in our lives we must face many things we do not desire. THe end of life on earth can be one of them. It is not always an easy passage. for example, growing old is not easy. Thankfully most will not be as epic and terrifying as what Jesus faced in the Garden of Gethsemane on the Mount of Olive. But Jesus showed us how to walk through those tough times. A talk with Jesus. Jesus considered a one hour talk with jesus a short talk by the way… as he chastised the disciples could you not keep watch with me one hour?

After that prayer, had the mission changed? did the tough thing he had to do still lay before him?

YES, but something had changed, what was it?

Yet notice the powerful change in Jesus. When Jesus entered he time of prayer, soul was so sorrowful, he claimed it was sorrowful it was on the point of death, and greatly troubled.

at the end of that hour, he is standing and ready to face the events. telling his disciples “ are you “Are you still sleeping and *resting? Behold, the hour is at hand, and the Son of Man is being betrayed into the hands of sinners. Rise, let us be going. See, My betrayer is at hand.”

Can we have serenity in the face of difficult and tough things? even when they bring pain, hurt, and even suffering?

Serenity might not be the best word but it is powerful. There is certinly going to be moments of emotion as our flesh is week.

Jesus brother, James, used a different word. He said “joy”. or to be more correct , “Consider it Joy”. For our emotions are followers of our will. We may not feel joyful. we may feel the opposite of Joyful. Scared, worried, anxious. But if we face Jesus face to face and is we speak to Jesus to Jesus about it. He has a divine exchange for us. He can give us Peace. Peace the world does not know… this is a Shalom that is deeper than serenity.

the courage to change what can be changed,

Nothing is impossible with God. we are people who are not afraid of the impossible.

We walk with God and we should pray big Prayers. we should ask for things, big things — that are aligned to the best of our knowledge with God’s will.

James told us… about prayer. James 4:1-6

That we were to be Humble and ask God according to his will, and know that he will hear and answer.

we Don’t have because we don't ask, and when we ask we ask with wrong motives.

The serenity prayer should not stop with a prayer about praying. It should go on to pray mountain moving prayers. Asking God to do the impossible as we are lead by his spirit. to tell the satanic forces “tear down this wall”, and see then watch as we see leaders call it out like Ronald Reagan, “Gorbachev, tear down this wall”! in a Speech delivered by President Ronald Reagan of the USA in West Berlin in June 1987. It was a little over 2 years later that the symbolic fall of the iron curtain came on Nov 9 1989 when the Berlin wall dividing Communist East Berlin form West Berlin was pulled down. I use the example of Communism falling because it is a precise example of the power of prayer biblically and spiritual applied by the Holy spirit to bring about a massive change to bring the Gospel to those who could not hear it.

Jesus told us we are waging a battle against ideas, that set themselves up against the knowledge of God. We have such ideas running rampant in our world today. 2 Cor 10:5

2 Corinthians 10:5 ESV

We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ,

As we pray we are to take actions. for James again says… our FAITH is dead if it does not have ACTIONS.

so yes we need to pray for courage, as Paul asked the Christians to pray for his Boldness to preach as he should. so we must have Courage and boldness to share the Gospel, and pray the Big Prayers to change the world.

and the wisdom to know the one from the other.

This is the hardest, and perhaps worst part of the prayer.

For I see in the example of Jesus that the wisdom of knowing what cannot be changed lies with God.

Jesus himself let God, know his desires, but submitted his will to God. I think this is the better way.

We see a few place in like in revelation were God’s will and his way are clearly defined. Most often I think we will not be sure.

I think it is quite easy for us to Assume we know God’s will find ourselves fighting against God. Saul before he became Paul thought he knew God’s will as he tried to stamp out the flame of Christianity of the early church by imprisoning and killing Christians - he was in error and sin and did not know it.

Therefore it is critical for us to be humble before God and allow God to change us.

Prayer team

We have a prayer team that can support a response for more focused individual prayer.

MUSIC: Words and Music by Cleavant Derricks in 1937. Note: These are the original lyrics; some gospel groups switch them around a bit.

Just a Little Talk With Jesus

Words and Music by Cleavant Derricks Sr. Cleavant Derricks, Sr. wrote the Christian hymn "Just a Little Talk with Jesus" in 1937. Just A Little Talk With Jesus continues to bless millions around the world. Reverend Derricks was born on May 13, 1909, and died on April 14, 1977. He pastored a number of black Baptist Churches in the United States of America. He composed over 300 hymns including “When God Dipped His Love In My Heart,” ”We’ll Soon Be Done With Troubles and Trials,” and “When He Blessed My Soul.” His contributions to gospel music was recognized in 1984 when he was inducted into the Gospel Music Hall of Fame.

I once was lost in sin, but Jesus took me in And let a little light from heaven fills my soul. He bathed my heart in love, and He wrote my name above And just a little talk with Jesus made me whole.

(Now let us) have a little talk with Jesus (Let us) tell Him all about our troubles (He will) hear our fainted cry (He will) answer by and by, (When you feel) a little prayer wheel turning (And you) will know a little fire is burnin’ (You will) find a little talk with Jesus makes it right.

I may have doubts and fears, my eyes be filled with tears But Jesus is a friend who watches day and night I go to him in prayer, He knows my every care And just a little talk with Jesus make it right.

(Now let us) have a little talk with Jesus (Let us) tell Him all about our troubles (He will) hear our fainted cry (He will) answer by and by , (pause) (When you) feel a little prayer wheel turning (And you will) know a little fire is burnin’ (You will) find a little talk with Jesus makes it right.

And just a little talk with Jesus makes it right…

Below are some must -reads on hymns history and lyrics.

Where We’ll Never Grow Old Hymn Story and Lyrics

Altar Call: Come to the table, He has provision for you

Repent and open the door for Jesus. Invite him in to eat with you. Let him prepare the table and give you the spiritual food you need.