Untitled Sermon (2)

NEVER GIVE UP: “STAND FIRM” | Ark Youth October, 2019

Backstory:

God says good things are ahead

They had been slaves in Egypt for over 400 years

A man named Moses shows up on the scene to deliver them

A bunch of bad stuff happens and finally the Egyptians let them go

The Israelites are leaving...

The Egyptians start chasing after them...

And everyone is thinking, “BUT I THOUGHT YOU SAID”

Story: “I Think I Like You”

In JH this girl told me she liked me

Changed her mind

I’m thinking “But I Thought You Said”

She says, “You see what had happened was… I changed my mind”

They’re standing in front of the Red Sea with nowhere to go…

They’re ready to give up - quit - throw in the towel...

10 When Pharaoh drew near, the people of Israel lifted up their eyes, and behold, the Egyptians were marching after them, and they feared greatly. And the people of Israel cried out to the Lord. 11 They said to Moses, “Is it because there are no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the wilderness? What have you done to us in bringing us out of Egypt? 12 Is not this what we said to you in Egypt: ‘Leave us alone that we may serve the Egyptians’? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness.” 13 And Moses said to the people, “Fear not, stand firm, and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will work for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall never see again. 14 The Lord will fight for you, and you have only to be still.”

4 REASONS PEOPLE GIVE UP:

FEAR

- They looked up and panicked. They feared greatly.

STORY: BUNKBED CRASHING IN ON ME

When you sleep on the bottom bunk of a bunkbed are you ever afraid of it crashing on you while you sleep?

One time at camp - it crashed on me. Kids were mooning the ceiling & jumping off to hit it.

FEAR: Rejection, Failure, Loss, Dying

FEAR IS A MAJOR CONTRIBUTOR TO BAD DECISIONS

I was afriad so I… hid, tried to cove up the mess, didn’t let people know how I was feeling, DECIDED TO GIVE UP

God has great things in store for your life.

Fear keeps you from experiencing those great things.

When I am afraid I put my trust in you.

ALWAYS ASSUMING THE WORST

- There were no graves in Egypt

Moses, you just brought us out here to die

You didn’t want to have to pick up all our dead bodies

The cemeteries were full

When life gets hard it can be easy to assume the worst

EXAMPLES: TBD People assuming the worst

Friend leaves you on read - I bet they hate meBoyfriend leaves you on read - “He’s probably cheating on me with another girl” (No, he was just sleeping)Coughing - look up on google - I have ______!Hard Test - I know I failed it, I know I did, probably never going to graduate high school

STORY: DOOMSDAY HIDEOUT

Last week in the Netherlands they found a Dutch family with 6 kids ages 16 to 25 who have been hiding out for 9 years in a cellar awaiting the end of the world.

PEOPLE WHO ALWAYS ASSUME THE WORST ARE THE ONES WHO OFTEN EXPERIENCE THE WORST

NOT WILLING TO CHANGE

- We told you to “leave us alone”

Meaning, “Leave you in slavery?!”

When God has something better for you?!

Sometimes people just want things to stay the way they are

A lot of times change can be scary … but it can also be really good

What would you do without your phone?

Someone got tired of not being able to have the internet everywhere so they invented smart phones

Someone got tired of pagers & invented cell phone

The person who invented pagers got tired of not being able to take phone out of the house

Someone got tired of other people listening in on their call and invented phone numbers

Someone got tired of delivering

STORY: Lung Collapsed

No school. People bringing free stuff. No work. Girls felt bad for me and kept coming to visit me. Watch movies all day. -- but remember my lung collapsed.

Wrong thinking - “I should just stay here”

WHY STAY WHERE YOU ARE WHEN GOD HAS SOMETHING BETTER FOR YOU WHERE YOU’RE GOING?

FOCUSED ON THE WAY THINGS WERE

- “better for us to serve the Egyptians”

Discouragement often sets in when we have thoughts that start with:

“Things were better when...”

It’s easier to give up when you’re focused on the way things were

You can’t CONTROL the PAST, but you can CONTROL your FUTURE

But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

HOW TO NOT GIVE UP:

To be delivered… STAND FIRM + BE STILL

ILL. FIRM HANDSHAKE vs. limp…

Stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourself fully to the work of the Lord.

YOUR JOB IS TO TRUST GOD

Moses is telling them “Be Still” --> Be Silent

There really is no such thing as standing still in life....

YOU’RE EITHER MOVING FORWARD OR BACKWARD

When you stand firm in the Lord - Stand still in the Lord.... He’s moving you forward

They were complaining. Moses is like be quiet & stop complaining.

Every time God is taking you one step forward you are taking a step back b/c of your mouth

STORY: HIKER LOST FOR 17 DAYS

Amanda Eller

Hiking in Hawaii, ate wild fruit

Fearful that the search and rescue teams would give up - had to trust they wouldn’t

"There were times of total fear and loss and wanting to give up," "It did come down to life and death and I had to choose. I chose life – I wasn't going to take the easy way out."