Losing Expectations

Today is St Patricks Day.

Did you know that St Patrick isn’t even a saint?

Did you know that the story of him making all the snakes disappear is just a myth and that snakes have never been indigenous to Ireland?

Did you know that all the stuff that people use to celebrate St. Patricks Day (leprechauns, gold at the end of the rainbow, green vs. orange, various other celtic pagan rituals, etc) were things that Patrick preached against?

Patrick as a fine young man of no report until something unexpected happened. He got kidnapped and was forced into slavery. Totally unexpected.

He was held captive for 6 years when as he reports in a vision God showed him a way to escape. Totally unexpected.

During his darkest days being held captive he learned to lean on Christ to keep him strong. So his darkest days were the very thing that Patrick needed to build his faith - Totally unexpected.

After being free for sometime, he went to pagan Ireland to preach and teach the ones who held him captive the ways of the Lord. Totally unexpected.

When he got there and started boldly preaching there were many threats against his life and the king ordered his execution. Some how the king that ordered the execution was led to the Lord by Patrick and baptized by him and much of the nation followed suit. None of that could have been part of Patrick’s great plan.

Very Seldom Do Our Expectations Happen the way we Expect.

When I was called into the ministry I didn’t know it would take 17 years to get get my first appointment.

I knew my wife was amazing when I married her, but she has exceeded all my expectations.

2. I knew my wife was amazing when I married her, but she has exceeded all my expectations.

Almost every place we’ve lived was the last place I expected to live.

BUT AS GREAT AS MY WIFE AND MY LIFE IS, GOD HAS NEVER DONE ANYTHING THE WAY I EXPECT IT DONE. IT’S ALWAYS WAY BETTER.

TODAY WE TALK ABOUT LOSING OUR EXPECTATIONS.

Really we are talking about finding a place to trust God with all that we are, knowing that whatever the journey, it will be amazing as we walk with our God.

We will:

define - expectation

talk about the turmoil of being tied to them.

Talk about a couple Bible stories

Pray and release our expectations to Him.

Defined

Webster - the act or state of expecting

Better - a strong belief that something will happen or be the case in the future.

Thats where we are going to focus as it is the closest definition the world will give.

Turmoil.

Turmoil.

Turmoil.

I did not expect to get diabetes.

Every couple of years someone comes up with some theory that Jesus is coming at this specific time.

can i just say that most people have some tremendous disappointment in the things we expected.

My wife expected me to be the absolute perfect husband and father… truth be told so did I.

The question is what do we do when those expectations don’t go as, well, expected

Couple Bible Stories

ABRAHAM

Genesis 12:1–4 ESV

Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” So Abram went, as the Lord had told him, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran.

Ge

God wants a couple things from us.

Our complete trust

He want’s to be in charge of our journey.

Do you know that Abraham NEVER saw the promise?

He didn’t have the child of the promise until he was very old.

He even tried rushing the promise

He always believed God would do it. The travels were not easy.

Bickering

War

But through his geneology we see not only the child of the promise, we see THE CHILD OF THE PROMISE. All nations are blessed through Christ.

The blessing was way bigger than Abraham could have possible imagined.

SOMEONE WE KNOW

Billy Graham was a great speaker but out of nowhere and unsaved man Stewart Hamlin the most prominent radio host in 1949 went to a crusade and got saved. When asked to sell alcohol on his program he refused and that radio fired him and he went in to ministry writing modern hymns ( for that day) At some point a panther got loose in Los Angeles and Stewart killed that panther as it was charging. The story is simply crazy. As a result a newspaper owner who was known for yellow journalism (creating sensational stories that arent necessarily based in fact) wrote a famous telegram telling his employees to “Puff Graham” BECAUSE A FIRED RADIO HOST GOT ATTACKED BY A PANTHER AND SAVED PEOPLE BY KILLING IT A MORE THAN LIKELY DISHONEST NEWSPAPER OWNER “PUFFED GRAHAM” AND APPROXIMATELY 2.2 MILLION PEOPLE MET JESUS.

Kelly Clarkson

NEW TESTAMENT STORY - NICODEMAS

John 3:1–17 ESV

Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.” Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?” Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.” Nicodemus said to him, “How can these things be?” Jesus answered him, “Are you the teacher of Israel and yet you do not understand these things? Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak of what we know, and bear witness to what we have seen, but you do not receive our testimony. If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things? No one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.

Nicodemas - a Pharisee - teacher

Knew Jesus was from God and went to see Him

Jesus blew his mind (You must be born again)...

In the explanation is probably the most famous verse in the whole Bible.

John 3:16–17 ESV

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.

God is way bigger.

in that day they knew the Messiah was coming to rescue Israel from their opressors - probably similar to Moses, or Nehemiah. but no Jesus is way bigger.

Nicodemas might have missed it - but he had to let go of what he expected and accept who Jesus was on Jesus’s terms.

Brings us to our Conclusion

Where are you today?

Do you have this idea that Jesus is going to do a specific thing?

Or worse, maybe you think Jesus is done moving and your just counting the minutes until its over.

GOD IS BIGGER THAN THAT

Ephesians 3:20 ESV

Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us,

Ephesians 3:14–21 ESV

For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.

eph 3:

lets pray,