Stand on Prayer

Good morning and welcome to CCC. We are so very glad to have each of you here with us in person and joining us online.

This morning if you are watching on our livestream, first thank you and welcome and second I hope you are seeing a better product with our new platform

We are still transitioning our cccnevadamo.org domain so you have to follow the link posted on our Facebook page to get to the new website but cccnevadamo.org should get you there within a week or so

Our app is in development and when it is up and running I will announce that here as well as put a slide on the morning announcements slides that run prior to service. The app will be available to download on the google play store as well as the apple app store for free

Again the entire thought process behind this transition is IT

The website is being designed with seekers in mind. Those seeking Jesus and a church…salvation

The app will be for those who have found us and hopefully Jesus and it is designed for growth in Christ…discipleship

Again IT is the only two things that matter....salvation and discipleship

With IT on our minds, a major part of IT is youth. God has laid a plan on my heart and I have spoken with some of you about that individually

I plan to hold an organizational meeting right after services on Sunday June 2. If you would like to help with youth but cannot be at that meeting please see me and I can talk with you individually and bring that info to the meeting.

My prayer is we start a full youth program on Wednesday night September 11th.

Join us in prayer for both God’s plan for our youth and your role in that program.....teacher....helper…kitchen....van.....prayer....financial.....God has a part for you to play and I urge you to seek Him in prayer so you know what part He wants you to carry out.

Let’s Pray

START RECORDING

This morning we will finish our James: A Christian’s Guide To Living From Jesus sermon series. I pray that these past several weeks have been encouraging, convicting, and have moved you in your growth in Christ

I feel the Holy Spirit working in many peoples lives......I also feel those who are fighting the Holy Spirit’s work in their lives

I beg you this morning......if you are fighting the growth and conviction that the Holy Spirit is laying upon you

stop....

get to the altar....

give it to God and fully submit and be a doer not a hearer only

If you would like please turn to James 5:13-20. as that is our text this morning. I want to read the entire text then we will back up and walk through it together to see what God has for us this morning

James 5:13–20

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“Is any among you afflicted? let him pray. Is any merry? let him sing psalms. Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord: And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him. Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. Elias was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain: and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months. And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth brought forth her fruit. Brethren, if any of you do err from the truth, and one convert him; Let him know, that he which converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins.”

Lets start with

James 5:13–15

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“Is any among you afflicted? let him pray. Is any merry? let him sing psalms. Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord: And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him.”

The Power of Prayer

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Christians must be quick to pray

Christians must be committed to prayer

Christians must be dependent upon prayer

We have lost many disciplines since the early church but one of the major disciplines we have lost is proper perspective on prayer

Prayer is truly a lifestyle

Most of us do not have a lifestyle of prayer

Most pray when things are bad

We are stuck

We need help

Someone is sick or dying

Your job is downsizing and you are out of a job

Your marriage is in trouble

The bottle or the drugs or the tobacco or the sex or porn or the whatever has a strong grip on you

We should pray in those times but usually that is the only time we are serious about prayer

We casually pray before meals

We casually give thanks on occasion

Sometimes we pray that God will bless our plans......wrong…we should be praying to God to reveal His plan for our life every single day

But to say we have a lifestyle of prayer would be a vast overstatement

Prayer is powerful

Prayer is healing

Prayer leads to deliverance

Prayer leads to an authentic

deep

personal

intimate relationship with God through Jesus!!!!!!

A Christian should be marked by prayer and worship

Is your life defined or marked by prayer and worship?

When was the last time, outside of church or a worship setting, that you truly worshipped God for who He was and what He has done in Jesus and the cross and salvation

That should be a constant in our lives as Christians

afflicted here comes from a Greek verb meaning to undergo hardship, suffer trouble

Those bad times we talked about earlier

Lost job

marriage in trouble

wayward child

addiction

sickness

death

etc

those bad times when they come pray

When hardship comes pray

when trouble comes pray

when persecution comes pray

when emotions come pray

when anger comes pray

when anxiety comes pray

when depression arrives pray

when temptation is strong pray

1 Thessalonians 5:16–18

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“Rejoice evermore. Pray without ceasing. In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.”

This is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.....what is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you

Rejoice evermore

Rejoice is from a Greek verb meaning to be cheerful

evermore is from a Greek adverb meaning even when, at all times

Be cheerful at all times even when times are bad

Does that define you?

Are you cheerful at all times even when it seems like everything is against you

and attacking you

and it feels like they are winning.....

we know they are not because God has already won but in our humanness it feels like it...

when you have hit rock bottom

when you are at the end of your rope

when all hope seems lost

are you cheerful then???????

You need to be because that is where God works!

at the end of you because if you could do it you dont need God

Pray comes from a Greek verb meaning pray to God, supplicate, worship:—pray earnestly for, make prayer.

Without ceasing comes from a Greek adverb that means uninterruptedly, without omission,

Pray to God....take your supplications.....your worship....earnestly to Him uninterruptedly and without omission

CONSTANT COMMUNICATION WITH GOD

Is that you!?!?!?!??!?!?!?!?!?!

If that is not you then you are not following or living out the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

Pray without ceasing!

Prayer must be your lifestyle

Notice what is not a part of your lifestyle as a Christian

Running

Running from affliction is not handling affliction Biblically

God calls us to stand.

Stand on the Word

Stand on God

Stand on Jesus

All through the power of the Holy Spirit

Stand not run

It again comes down to perspective

2 Timothy 1:7

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“For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.”

As a Christian....one who has confessed Jesus as Lord and Savior and believes God raised Jesus from the dead

How does one get to that point and become a Christian

You realize through the Holy Spirit that you are lost…a sinner bound for hell due to your sin

That there is nothing you could or can do to fix your sin problem

That the wages of that sin is death.....the 2nd death and eternal separation from God in hell

That Jesus became your sin

Died in your place

shed His blood to pay for your sin

THEREFORE you repent.....change your direction....change your mind and mindset.....change your behavior and attitudes and make Jesus your Lord and Savior…dying to yourself and making Him King

When that happens you are now free from the power of sin and death

you are now a son or daughter of God

co-heirs with Jesus and bound for heaven

No matter what happens physically

nothing and no one can take eternal life from you

you are free

you are secure

you are saved

zero to fear

The spirit of fear is from satan not God

God gives us the spirit of power

love

and a sound mind

Does power and love and a sound mind mark you?

Is that what people see when they see you?

If not…get with God and find out what is standing in the way!

James 5:14

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“Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord:”

This is to be taken literal

Are you sick

Are you injured

If so have you called the elders to anoint you with oil and pray over you?

Why not?

most of the time it is pride or a lack of worth, maybe even ignorance or maybe just don’t want to bother

Pride is a sin.....you have nothing to be proud of

your nature is sinful

your original destiny was hell

you couldn’t pay your sin debt

who are you to be prideful....let it go

Lack of worth....you are right in that you are not worthy on your own as Christ is the only good and worth in you.....However this sense of lack of worth to be prayed over is from satan....condemnation…driving you away from God....God proved through Jesus on the cross that you are worthy when you accept Jesus

Ignorance....can’t claim that anymore

Don’t want to bother....God has an answer for that

Galatians 6:2

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“Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.”

You are called to be a “bother”

We are called to carry each others burdens

think about this

when you refuse to allow others to carry your burdens

when you refuse to call the elders to anoint and pray

you steal your brothers and sisters in Christ’s joy

you steal their opportunity to serve Jesus by serving you

You steal their opportunity to do the good works that God created them to carry out!

Christians should quickly look to carry others burdens

Christian should also quickly allow others to carry their burdens

Here is the deal......Jesus was authentic

If you and I are to be His ambassadors we must be authentic

you have burdens

i have burdens

We must give those to God but also each other to help carry

Take last Friday night, the night before our Renewed event

Stephanie and Melody and I could have gotten everything set up

We could have prepared the church

lead worship practice

Had everything ready to go

It would have took most of the night but through Jesus we could have gotten that done

The fact is it took less than an hour to prepare

why

because brothers and sisters in Christ showed up and helped bear our burden.....they jumped in and went to work

That is what this is about

I have had times where I have sat with someone

not said many words just been present in their heartache......bear each others burdens

be present

be engaged

be authentic

That is what you are called to do in Christ Jesus

James 5:16

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“Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.”

Goes further than just carrying burdens

You and I are to confess our faults to each other.....listen to the verse again

Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much

Confess one to another

pray for one another

why

to be healed

Many of you are carrying around burdens and faults that are destroying you

Many of you are justifying and hiding sin and it is destroying you

many of you are being called by God to do more…give more…it may be in service to God by serving each other and the church body

or

called to be in God’s Word everyday but you are too busy

called to live a lifestyle of prayer and worship but are embarrassed that someone might find out

called to love your neighbor as Jesus loves you but they are mean to you

called to die to yourself and put your spouse before yourself but they will not return the favor so you hold it against them

some may be in a household where your spouse is on fire for Jesus......they are growing spiritually and you are not and it hurts you

it angers you

you are jealous of them

put down your pride and talk to them

confess your faults to them

pray together and be healed

This healed is not physical

God can and still does heal in a physical sense

This is talking about spiritual healing........if you are healed spiritually your physical doesn't matter any more

Many of you are carrying burdens and faults around and are so very angry with God that you are not being healed but you refuse to do what He called you to do in His Word to be healed

This is a place for the sick

this is a place for the broken

this is not a country club but a hospital

a level one trauma center because we have Jesus

However to be a level one trauma center we must ask ourselves if we truly are

quick to pray

quick to jump in and carry burdens.....sometimes burdens we have no understanding of because we have never experienced it but through Jesus and the Holy Spirit we can help carry those burdens

quick to seek Jesus and be healed

Some of you are very prideful

very quick to judge

very quick to justify and defend evil

some have habits or hobbies or desires that are

evil

full of sin

music

movies

tv

video games

friends

etc

those things are in your life and sinful but you are okay with them

you justify them

you defend them

you get upset and angry when someone mentions that they are evil and sinful

those things are destroying you

yet you are mad at God for not moving but until you confess and pray with one another you will not be healed not my words but God’s words

Why is confessing so important

Confessing is important for several reasons

1. God just said so

If God said it you don’t get to have an opinion about it

You don’t get to decide not to do it

You don’t get to ignore it because it doesn’t suit you

You don’t get to have feelings about it and justify not doing it because you don’t feel it is for you

If God said it you must do it if you are a Christian

In fact it goes beyond that....If God said it then as a Christian because of the love and respect and gratitude you have for God because of Jesus and the cross and your salvation you can’t wait to do it

2. To confess you must agree it is a fault and humble yourself enough to admit that fault

Luke 9:23

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“And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.”

Die to yourself

Mount your cross daily......as many times a day as needed

You are not in control

You are not calling the shots

You are not God

Die to you

Die to your old ways

Die to your old thinking

Die to your sin

Die to the world

Die to satan

Die to you and live from Christ

You can’t confess and admit something that you think you are in control of.........God says you are not in control…confess.....pray....be healed

3. You can’t lock shields with your brothers and sisters in Christ without them knowing your weaknesses

If I don’t know you are struggling with something how in the world can I help you?

We are called to lock shields

We are called to fervently pray for each other

We are called to carry burdens but how in the world can anyone do that when you are silent

Fighting alone just means you are going to die alone

4. Brothers and sisters in Christ can’t fervently pray without knowing what to pray for

Again to fervently pray we need info

You don’t have to give every detail to everyone but you must be humble enough to say I am struggling with porn and I need help

I have am addicted to alcohol or drugs or tobacco and I can’t beat it I need help

I struggle with pride and anger and emotions and jealousy and being judgmental and loving my neighbors

whatever it is we can’t fervently pray if you keep it a secret

5. More than likely your brothers and sisters in Christ have been there or are there now and can support you and each other!

Revelation says there is power in the blood of the Lamb and the word of their testimony

You are not alone

You are not the only one to have experienced this

There is nothing new under the sun

satan wants you alone and isolated

Jesus wants you together with those who understand and can help

James 5:17–18

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“Elias was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain: and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months. And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth brought forth her fruit.”

Again power of unwavering faith leading to fervent prayer

I think we sell God so short so many times

God refused to withhold His One and Only Son from you

God sent Jesus to endure 33 years on earth

dwelling among a people who rejected Him

Lived a perfect life

Lived a sinless, holy life

just to mount a cross and become the sin of the world so He could die in your place and my place and the place of everyone in the world, past, present and future

Why on earth after paying that high of a price would God ever ignore you

God knows the very hairs upon your head

He cares about every detail of your life

from the minute to the major

He wants you to love Him enough to bring all those details to Him in prayer!

God will move in a might way for His glory and your good

Do you ask Him?

What is your prayer life really like?

Finally

James 5:19–20

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“Brethren, if any of you do err from the truth, and one convert him; Let him know, that he which converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins.”

This is exciting stuff right here

This is why God commands us to handle issues in His way not our way

If any err from the truth

if any sin

if any fall away

if any get distant and isolated

err from the truth

We…their loving brothers and sisters in Christ are to convert them....bring them back

We have talked about this several times recently

If someone, especially a brother or sister in Christ sins against you.....

you are to got to them and have a conversation with them and truly seek reconciliation

Not should

not if you feel like it

not if you think they deserve it

No you are to go and if you don’t go now you are living in sin

God’s heart is that all come to repentance and none should perish

you and I have to have that heart as well and we also have a role to play in that

if someone approaches you to talk about a sin you have committed against them

you also have a responsibility

you are to confess

repent

and ask for forgiveness

not defend your actions

not get upset that they are bringing it up

not angry at them and blow them up on facebook and social media

You are to repent…confess....and ask for forgiveness

You are also to seek forgiveness when you have sinned

You are to seek forgiveness when you have wronged someone

if you are the one wrong you are to quickly and completely forgive as Jesus has quickly and completely forgiven you

Where is your heart?

If it is focused on Jesus and prayer then these things will come naturally to you

What is your fruit

Where is your heart

It is time to ask God to search your heart in response to the truth you just heard

Maybe you are being drawn to Christ to accept His free gift of salvation and forgiveness and freedom

Maybe you have been convicted and have had situations or circumstances or even people come to mind

That is God leading you to do what He calls you to do.

Write those things and people down if you haven't already and then come and pray over them giving them to Jesus

Maybe you are sick and need the elders to anoint you and pray over you

Whatever it is come.

Our elders will be ready to receive you

Most importantly Jesus is ready to receive you

Come

STOP RECORDING

Invitation Softly and Tenderly by worship team