Be the Sermon

Introduction

Song of Solomon 4:16 NKJV

Awake, O north wind, And come, O south! Blow upon my garden, That its spices may flow out. Let my beloved come to his garden And eat its pleasant fruits.

Songs

Introduction

Hello everyone.

My name is am the Pastor at Great Yarmouth and Lowestoft.

If you are wondering where that is, as I was when I first was told we would be going there, Lowestoft is the easterly most point in the UK.

My wife is Norma, she is here and she is my bride of 29 years this year.

We are sorry we could not be with you all day, we had some local commitments.

But we are glad to be here now.

I have the honour of being the Youth Sponsor this year for the Area 8 Youth Federation.

That is you guys!

So I would like to start by publicly thanking (Thai-Chi) Chi-sha, Steffy and Thiago for all their hard word for today!

(Pause and applaude)

So, how has the day gone so far?

I look forward to hearing more about all the volunteering today.

ImpactClacton!

The “Be the Sermon”

And also getting to know some of you a bit better.

I already put a request in for Impact Lowestoft and GY for next year.

Scripture Reading

Let us read something from the bible.

A short reading this afternoon

Please open your bibles, your e-bibles to

(Look for Psalms, then you have ? Proverbs, then you have Ec-cle-si-as-tes), then you will find it)

Song of Solomon 4:16 NKJV

Awake, O north wind, And come, O south! Blow upon my garden, That its spices may flow out. Let my beloved come to his garden And eat its pleasant fruits.

Be the Sermon

Let us remind ourselves

What is the theme of the Global Youth Day? “Be the sermon.”

“Be the Sermon”.

It is a great phrase.

Taking that time out for intentional acts of kindness

And has allot of thinking behind it.

Scripture Reading

Song of Solomon 4:16 NKJV

Awake, O north wind, And come, O south! Blow upon my garden, That its spices may flow out. Let my beloved come to his garden And eat its pleasant fruits.

But also I have heard some “not so good ones”.

Be the Sermon

Let me ask you something

How about, “Be the Sermon, Everyday”!

Just for this

“Be Jesus’ Sermon”

At home, at work, at school, at college..

Be the Sermon 24 *7.

“Be like Jesus”

Be the Sermon 360.

Be the Sermon 365

Be the Sermon, Everyday

“Be the Sermon, Everyday”!

Be the Sermon with your hands.

Be the Sermon with your feet.

Be the Sermon with your eyes

Be the Sermon with your ears .

Be the Sermon with your tongue.

Be the Sermon, Everyday, Everywhere and with Every part of you!

I think that is the whole point, right?

Day in and Day out.

At home, at work, at school, at college..

24 *7.

During Life 360.

Be the Sermon Everyday

The Reality Check

So Let me ask you, how is that really going for you?

Being the Sermon, everyday.

How much of a reality is that in your life and my life?

What about a reality check on that!

Day in and Day out?

At home, at work, at school, at college..

24 *7.

In Life 360.

Today is a high day. We all need them.

We all need them.

Those mountain top experiences.

But what about in the valley of our ordinary life.

What about on Sunday, Monday...

Stats about young people that put God on the shelf for a season.

We all need high days like today.

We all need these mountain top experiences.

But the reality is, most of our lives are lived in the valley.

Doing the ordinary and amongst the ordinary.

Often mostly alone, in a world where there are temptations and trails around every corner.

Just as it was in Jesus life!

Spiritual Highs can lead to Lows

My concern for you is not so much here and now, it is the “afterwards”.

Never is a saint in so much danger as when he or she has been through a spiritual high.

The bible shows us that time and time again.

Just think of Abraham and Egypt, Jacob and Laban, David and Bathsheba, Elijah and wanting to die , Jonah and the Tree that shaded him, Peter and his thrice denial......

Business Trip to China

I have only been a full time Pastor for around 14 months.

My wife and I relocated from California back to the UK in Jan 2018.

I left a 28 year career with a High Tech company.

My background is Computer Science and Managed Information Systems.

Visit to Chongqing

It was about five years ago that I was on a business trip to China.

Chongqing

I traveled to Chongqing, in southern China.

We were visiting one of our factories that makes printers.

We were looking at putting in a new factory control system for the shipping containers that travel by sea into the USA .

The high tech Factories in China there are like university campus.

Apple and Foxconn.

We had a wonderful week and were shown total hospitality.

Stuck in Beijing

It came time to leave and travel home.

I would take a flight from

Early to bed, early up Chongqing to Beijing, from Beijing to San Francisco, From San Francisco to Sacramento, where my car was parked and then about a 40 minute drive home.

I was looking forward to getting home after a long week.

I fly to Beijing only to be told my flight was canceled and I would have to wait till the next day, late afternoon.

They put me in a very nice hotel.

It was late, so I ate and decided to go to sleep early and do some tourism in the morning.

The hotel was near Visit Tiananmen Square.

Tiananmen Square

I got up early, had a quick Chinese western breakfast

I had a short devotional and prayed

I must admit I enjoyed business travel but always found it lonely when not with other people.

I liked being able to do short tourist stops but again found it a bit lonely on my own.

I have been fortunate before to meet locals who would show we around.

After about 5 minutes in Tiananmen Square I met a man about my age.

He was very friendly, spoke excellent english and offered to show me around.

It was an enjoyable and educating time.

He then invited me to an old and traditional tea house. He wanted me to see this traditional part time in China.

Tea House

It was a small Tea house, with an old man there and a young girl.

They demonstrated making tea and talked about all the various teas

I could sample as many as I wanted.

It was getting late and so I said I needed to go.

The man who I had met said please let me buy you a tea set.

I am taken aback and said no I can buy it and some tea.

I paid for the tea and teaset without over paying much attention to how much I paid.

You see in China, food, etc is cheap.

But it was a big mistake.

Realised I had been tricked.

On the way to the airport I began to realise how much I had paid as I did the conversions into $.

I had a growing realisation that I had been tricked.

I started Googling about tea houses and people experiences.

I suddenly realised I had fallen for the trick.

And there it was, numerous cases of people that had been befriended, taken to a tea house, tricked and way over charged.

Now, you can add me to that number.

The one who had said such a thing will never happen to me.

I was very angry with myself.

I was so caught up with this supposed friendliness and hospitality that I missed it.

I felt so stupid.

“Really I have fallen for that!”

Pause...

And I was angry with God for allowing that to happen to me.

For allowing such a person into my life

The Lord knew I can get lonely and yet you allow this type of person into my life..

Pause

The Key Question

Let me ask you,

What about Being the Sermon in that situation?

In the valley, when it is messy and plain disappointing!

That happened to Jesus so many times!

What about Being the Sermon when you have every right to be angry?

When you have every right to hold a grudge?

Jesus had that right so many times, and yet he chose a different way.

You see, younger people,

That is where the rubber really hits the road

That is why I said I am most concerned about the afterwards!

When there is no fan fare

No large group

No supporters club

There is you, the Lord, and all the hopes and fears, all the temptations and trials.

The North and South Wind

In Songs 4:16, the bible says

Song of Solomon 4:16 NKJV

Awake, O north wind, And come, O south! Blow upon my garden, That its spices may flow out. Let my beloved come to his garden And eat its pleasant fruits.

The reality is we need both the cold, blasting, north wind.

And that warm, soothing , south wind.

The purpose of both is clear in this verse.

That the spices and comfort of Christ may flow into us.

And that the fragrance of Christ may flow out of us to others.

Stress - The Lord knows, in his love and wisdom, the exact measure of North and South winds to allow in our lives.

We can trust him on that.

We can be sure that is loving arm.

I eventually threw all that tea into the bin.

I could not stand to look at it, yet alone taste it.

But the Lord had his purpose in that event in my life.

Maybe part of that purpose is right here today.

I find I realte best to sermons that are honest

Keeping saying Yes to Jesus

Here is the point

If you want to keep being the Sermon, you have to Keep saying Yes to Jesus.

And Just because you say Yes today, does not mean you will say Yes tomorrow.

1 Corinthians 10:12 NKJV

Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall.

Saying Yes, being the sermon, is all about daily surrender in our lives to the Lord.

It is Absolute Ongoing Surrender.

Pause

Billy Graham

Billy Graham spoke at the Memorial Service in Washington held shortly after 911.

There was only one plane in the air that day over the whole USA.

It was carrying Billy Graham to Washington to speak as the Pastor of America.

At his death, Billy’s children said this about their Father and his relationship with the Lord.

He was available

He was humble

He was teachable.

He kept saying Yes to the Lord.

Final Exhortation

Be the Sermon, Everyday.

Keep saying Yes to the Lord

If you mess up, confess it, and get back to Being the Sermon, Everyday

Be available

Be humble

Be teachable.

And keep saying Yes to the Lord.

Please stand with me to make that commitment. And Let us pray.

And Let us pray.