Seasons Of Life (2)

Main Passage Of Scripture

Ecclesiastes 3:1–8 (NLT)

1 For everything there is a season,

a time for every activity under heaven.

2 A time to be born and a time to die.

A time to plant and a time to harvest.

3 A time to kill and a time to heal.

A time to tear down and a time to build up.

4 A time to cry and a time to laugh.

A time to grieve and a time to dance.

5 A time to scatter stones and a time to gather stones.

A time to embrace and a time to turn away.

6 A time to search and a time to quit searching.

A time to keep and a time to throw away.

7 A time to tear and a time to mend.

A time to be quiet and a time to speak.

8 A time to love and a time to hate.

A time for war and a time for peace.

Pray

Introduction

We used to run a gardening business and they were some fun and challenges times. Because alot of the work was determined by the weather. One thing the business taught us, is how we had to adjust to every season. In the winter it was quieter with work, so we saved alot of tree trimming jobs till winter and spring would be an extremely busy time so we made sure we had enough staff to cater to the busy season. Summer, lawns would slow in growth and start to dry out so we adjusted there. Autumn we get ready for winter. At every season we had to learn to adjust.

I have titled the sermon this morning - ‘Seasons of life’

Turn to your neighbour and say ‘its just a season’

I want to preach a word this morning around seasons. We have winter, Spring, Summer and Autumn.

Seasons of life

Everyone here including myself is experiencing a season in our personal walk with Jesus Christ.

Some of us are facing a winter season and feeling like life is really hard at the moment.

Some of us are making our way out of that winter season and experiencing the spring season which comes with alot of growth.

some of us are in a summer season and everything is good with us, we are on the mountain tops.

For some of us we are in the autumn season and heading into another difficult season.

these are the seasons of life..

For many of us we have:

chosen to make City Impact Church our home, maybe coming from another church.

Some of us are in a season of moving from another city for jobs or other reasons.

Alot of us have not been in a church building for a long time.

Some of us have never been in a church building at all.

Some of us are doing life really tough and are facing job redundancy.

Some of us are getting new jobs and starting in new industries.

For some of us we ourselves are facing sickness and some have even lost someone close to us. Thats a very difficult season.

Some of us are new parents - thats a very exciting season

Some have a young family, like us we are in that season.

The list goes on and on and on….

these are all seasons of life..

Someone put it this way, you are either in a storm, heading into a storm or coming out of a storm.

Illustration - Opening story

A life we can look at as a example of someone who understood all about seasons is Joesph who also had 4 seasons in his life.

1st season - was the favoured son of 12 of his father Jacob

2nd season - his brothers got jealous of this so they betrayed him and sold him as a slave to Egypt.

3rd season - Joseph was then then accused of sexual abuse of Potiphers wife and sent to prison.

4th season - Then he ascends to power in Egypt as second in charge.

I encourage us to read about Joseph in Genesis to not only learn about the different seasons but also the message of hope found in his life.

I want to share three key points that we can learn from seasons in life.

1. Seasons build character

I mentioned earlier we had a gardening business and i can remember doing our first rose pruning job. I was researching everything i knew about pruning roses. Im not a expert by any means at pruning roses.

There were three basic keys i learnt to pruning roses.

take off the leaves, because it becomes easier to prune. You can see the areas more clearly that need to be pruned.

You want to open the centre and cut off anything that is crossing over each other

You want to remove anything that is dead on the rose bush

As you prune the rose bush it becomes a very exposed and skeleton looking plant.

We do these things so that the plant can be exposed to light for growth

Joseph was being pruned and prepared in his hardest season of life.

Discipline from God

Maybe some of us are in a winter season of our own. We wonder why things are so hard.

God needs to remove the leaves to see what needs to be pruned.

We all have layers that need to come down so the Lord can prune us and shape us more into Christ

Often we think the Lord disciplining us as a negative.

But actually its positive because it builds character

Proverbs 3:11–12 (NLT)

11 My child, don’t reject the Lord’s discipline,

and don’t be upset when he corrects you.

12 For the Lord corrects those he loves,

just as a father corrects a child in whom he delights.

God disciplines us because He loves us and wants the best for us.

John 15:1–2 (NLT)

“I am the true grapevine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch of mine that doesn’t produce fruit, and he prunes the branches that do bear fruit so they will produce even more.

God is the gardener and He cuts away the things that dont produce life or fruit. The:

pride

lust

jealousy

anger

unforgiveness

bitterness

Light must come in

Those things get cut off and pruned so it can see light, for the light to come in and prepare growth in the plant. We must remove the things stopping light entering.

Maybe you feel like your in a season of building character, maybe pruning is taking place. Allow God to work in you and trim off those things that dont belong.

It might be painful at the moment, but i want to encourage you its for your good. Its for darkness to leave and light to come in. It grows you to be who Christ has destined you to be. A more loving person, a more kind person, a more joyful person, a person of integrity. God shapes us to be more like Him.

Seasons build character!

2. Maintain your tools in every season

For us to mow a lot of lawns and prune and hedge trim bushes, we had to make sure our tools were maintained on a regular basis. The blades needed to be placed, oil needed to changed. So that when jobs came in, the tools was serviced and ready for the work.

As believers can i encourage us to maintain our tools in all seasons of life.

Winter season

Too many times as believers when hard seasons come, we stop maintaining our tools. We stop using the tools that help us in our walk.

Summer Season

It can even be in the summer time where we feel like we are on the top of the mountain. But thats when pride comes in and self righteousness.

Read Gods Word

In all seasons we need to be:

reading his word

praying

coming to church

going to prayer meetings

fellowshipping with God.

These consistent disciplines is what helps us when tough seasons come.

When we are going through hard seasons, Go to the word of God, When your go through prosperous seasons go to the word of God because although seasons change - Gods word does not change

Isaiah 40:8 (NIV)

The grass withers and the flowers fall,

but the word of our God endures forever.”

If your feeling discouraged, you open psalm 23 and you read it

Psalm 23:1–6 (NLT)

The Lord is my shepherd;

I have all that I need.

He lets me rest in green meadows;

he leads me beside peaceful streams.

He renews my strength.

He guides me along right paths,

bringing honor to his name.

Even when I walk

through the darkest valley,

I will not be afraid,

for you are close beside me.

Your rod and your staff

protect and comfort me.

You prepare a feast for me

in the presence of my enemies.

You honor me by anointing my head with oil.

My cup overflows with blessings.

Surely your goodness and unfailing love will pursue me

all the days of my life,

and I will live in the house of the Lord

forever.

The word of God is what sustains us through all seasons.

Use Gifts and talents

Joesph was given a gift to interpret dreams, that gift got him in the pit and landed him in prison. But the same gift got him out of prison to eventually be 2nd in charge over all of Egypt.

Just because he was in a hard season in life didn't stop him from using his gift to help others. We know what happens at the end, his brothers came and he ended up forgiving them and inviting them to stay in Egypt. Even when they wronged him, he chose to forgive at the height of his success.

Many of us here have gifts and talents that God has given you and maybe you have laid it down. If you used to play guitar on stage and now due to the season your in, you are not. Don’t stop playing the guitar, worship God in your season, in your quiet time with the Lord. Dont lay down your gifts because of the season, help others with that gift and talent.

We hold ourselves back

Like Ps Racquel said last week - TAKE THE LIMITS OFF.

Take the limits off yourself, your mind.

STOP listening to the lies of the devil.

The devil will say :

dont go to church because your a sinner

dont go to prayer meetings because you dont know how to pray

dont worship God because of what you did lastnight.

The devil is a liar and the bible says there is no truth in him.

So the opposite is true.

Go to church because we saved by grace and because of what Jesus did for me im going to church.

im going to prayer because the bible says i can pray to Him and He wants to have a relationship with me

I can worship God because He is everything to me.

I want to preach to someone this morning

Stop listening to the devil and listen to God

Stop feeling like your not good enough and step into your entitlement of being called a child of God

Stop living in fear and start living in faith

stop living in defeat and start living in victory

Not because of anything you have done but because of all that Jesus has done!!!!

He died for you

He rose again for you

He did this so you can have freedom

Life

Joy

Love

TAKE THE LIMITS OFF

We are going to maintain our tools in every season of life

3. Seasons change but God does not change - BAND TO COME UP

Ecclesiastes 3:1 (NLT)

For everything there is a season,

a time for every activity under heaven.

Seasons come and seasons go.

Joseph did not know his season was going to change, he just controlled what he could, he chose to be faithful to God.

One year we planned for a spring season in the gardening business only to have one whole month of rain. We dont control the seasons but one thing we can control is our response.

Keeping our heart right when things dont go our way. Making a choice to trust God when things dont make sense. Trusting God when things dont go to plan.

Whatever your going through is seasonal friends. There is hope, trust God

Sometimes we get stuck in a season because the season becomes bigger than God.

DONT WORRY

TURN TO YOUR NEIGHBOUR AND SAY ‘DONT WORRY’

Isrealites never entered the promise land because they were fixed on their current circumstances.

They worried about food and water instead of trusting Jehovah Jireh our provider

Matthew 6:28–33 (NLT)

“And why worry about your clothing? Look at the lilies of the field and how they grow. They don’t work or make their clothing, yet Solomon in all his glory was not dressed as beautifully as they are. And if God cares so wonderfully for wildflowers that are here today and thrown into the fire tomorrow, he will certainly care for you. Why do you have so little faith?

“So don’t worry about these things, saying, ‘What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?’ These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs. Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.

Dont focus on your season, focus on the God of the seasons

for the people of God, then, peace and assurance come not from a full knowledge of the times and seasons but from a personal knowledge of the God who rules the times and seasons.

D. Michael Martin

The good news is that seasons change but God does not!!!!

Hebrews 13:8 (NLT)

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

The bible says God is the rock of ages - why? because a rock is solid. It will not move.

Psalm 18:1–2 (NLT)

I love you, Lord;

you are my strength.

The Lord is my rock, my fortress, and my savior;

my God is my rock, in whom I find protection.

He is my shield, the power that saves me,

and my place of safety.

He is our rock, He is our stability when things are unstable. when we feel like everything is against us, we put our trust in God.

Seasons change, Spring is here now but summer is coming. Spring can not stay around!

your job loss is seasonal, it will change,

your, financial situation is seasonal

your relationship problem is seasonal

your pain and hurt is just a season, Spring and summer is coming!!!

Seasons change but God and His word will not change.

In your winter season God is with you

you might feel alone and asking where is God in all of this?

best time to prune roses is usually mid to late winter and our faith gets tested most in the times that its hard, its when we are in the thick of it, in the hardest times where pruning happens.

You might feel like your alone in those moments, i want to encourage you. You are not!

The bible teaches us that God was with Joseph most when He was in prision. In his hardest season of life.

In seasons of hardship lean on God for comfort and guidance.

Praise God seasons change

As we allow God to prune us and cut off branches - what follows is a season of growth and maturity

As we go through that season of building character a new season comes.

Spring and summer comes

As seasons change a beautiful bunch of roses start to flourish and come out

Joseph didnt realise in his time of hardship and pruning that he would go from prisioner to ruler of Egypt -

but God did….

While we see the pain and hurt but God sees the good that comes from it.

the stronger person you become

the more compassionate person

helping and loving person

joyful person you become.

In your weakness God makes you strong

What the enemy meant for bad God will use for good

We may not see the good but its coming

Our job is not to know what happens to us in the seasons to come, our job is to simply keep a open heart. To allow God to:

Cut off the dead branches and prune and build character

help us to maintain our tools and read our word, pray

to not focus on the season but God of the seasons - because seasons change but God does not

Whatever season we enter lets choose to trust our God.

Close

3 questions to ask ourselves

what season am i in?

what is my heart response to my current season?

How am i growing in becoming more christlike in this season?

Salvation call