What Matters Most
Courageous Followers • Sermon • Submitted
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· 11 viewsencouragement to change priorities in light of the Coronavirus Pandemic
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Transcript
Please reach out to your loved one and tell them to listen to this message!
Jesus rebuked his disciples, “Oh you of little faith.”
We’ve turned from faith. I am not referring to being baptist, or Pentacostal, Muslim or Jewish; I mean we’ve stopped believing and trusting God. Americans still practice their religious beliefs. However, the transforming power of the practice is missing. Where is the revelation that leads to reverence? Where is the devotion that leads to true worship? Where is the holiness that leads to radiance? Where is the love that leads to healing?
With mayors and governors mandating closing restaurants, sports leagues, entertainment and every houses of worship to stop the pandemic, millions of people could be headed towards isolation and famine. We’ve been in a famine for some time, ().
“The days are coming,” declares the Sovereign Lord, “when I will send a famine through the land— not a famine of food or a thirst for water, but a famine of hearing the words of the Lord.
We must turn again to God. Lord, turn every home into a place of worship!
GOD IS TELLING US TO FOCUS ON WHAT MATTERS MOST.
The disease is still spreading... the stock market was suspended several times, people are out of work... what else have you noticed?
There is a decrease in violence.
People are talking more.
People are less rude
Congress is working together. They passed a stimulus bill in days when they could not work together to pass hundreds of bills.
Almost every passage I’ve known has taken on deeper meaning. You and I have heard this passage quoted hundreds of times. Now it means everything.
LOVE MATTERS!
If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal.
The New International Version Chapter 12
And do not set your heart on what you will eat or drink; do not worry about it
We’ve misunderstood this passage by making it a general message to Christians. Jesus spoke to those who’d left their former lives, including their homes, professions and families, behind to follow him ().
We’ve misunderstood this passage by making it a general message to Christians. Jesus spoke to those who’d left their former lives, including their homes, professions and families, behind to follow him (). further more, they were on their way to Jerusalem where Jesus would be crucified. Not only had the left everything to follow him, they were also following him to his death.
We’ve misunderstood this passage by making it a general message to Christians. Jesus spoke to those who’d left their former lives, including their homes, professions and families, behind to follow him (). further more, they were on their way to Jerusalem where Jesus would be crucified. Not only had the left everything to follow him, they were also following him to his death.
After this, Jesus traveled about from one town and village to another, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom of God. The Twelve were with him, and also some women who had been cured of evil spirits and diseases: Mary (called Magdalene) from whom seven demons had come out; Joanna the wife of Chuza, the manager of Herod’s household; Susanna; and many others. These women were helping to support them out of their own means.
Further more, they were on their way to Jerusalem where Jesus would be crucified. Not only had the left everything to follow him, they were also following him to his death.
Jesus’ disciples were not to worry because they were serving God. God would touch the righteous to provide support to Jesus’ followers ().
Stay there, eating and drinking whatever they give you, for the worker deserves his wages. Do not move around from house to house. “When you enter a town and are welcomed, eat what is offered to you. Heal the sick who are there and tell them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’
If they were not anxious they would learn about the kingdom of God. God’s kingdom works through charity and love.
Jesus’ followers were to take no sack of coins for savings.
He told them: “Take nothing for the journey—no staff, no bag, no bread, no money, no extra shirt.
They had nothing to tide them over, but the kindness of those who God touched through their service to Christ. Jesus was speaking to those who took the kingdom of God seriously.
Jesus told his disciples to seek the Kingdom of God. You cannot control the stock market, but you can control how much kindness you show others. Instead of investing in stocks and bonds, invest in kindness, compassion, service, in people.
. Crowds stampeded each other to get to Jesus.
Meanwhile, when a crowd of many thousands had gathered, so that they were trampling on one another, Jesus began to speak first to his disciples, saying: “Be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.
When this happened, he told his disciples to beware of vanity of the crowds. I went to the store the other day... I waited an hour to get in. People were fighting over the toilet paper and ignoring the paper dinner napkins. When you panic, you do not listen to sound advice or see what is in front of you.
This is our time to seek the kingdom of God.
What is the kingdom of God?
For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit,
YOUR SOUL MATTERS!
You have a soul. If you did not have a soul, you’d be a rock. Your soul is your values, your loves, your life experiences, your behavior, your hopes and dreams and your faith. You should not worry about what you will eat or what you will wear, if you turned over to Jesus your soul. What you eat or what you wear does not determine your worth; these things have become the shell of what we value.
Consider the Ravens... God feeds them. This means, it is God’s responsibility to take care of us. God does that through the resources he provided on earth. God must touch those who have to support those who have not. (John... those of you who have two coats...)
Do not be anxious for your life- the word is soul. Do not be anxious for your soul. Your soul is your life, your personality, your body, your emotions and your spirit. So your life is more than what you eat and your body is more than what you wear.
God breathed into the dirt... you came alive. You are made of
Wikipedia says, Almost 99% of the mass of the human body is made up of six elements: oxygen, carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, calcium, and phosphorus. Only about 0.85% is composed of another five elements: potassium, sulfur, sodium, chlorine, and magnesium. All 11 are necessary for life. But it does not say, how these elements make you laugh, or cry, or dream of fight or pray.
, your very hair... when you comb your hair and leave strands in the sink, does your husband or children say anything? When you go to the beauty shop, does your beautician count your strands? YOUR HEAVENLY FATHER DOES!
Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.
what is mankind that you are mindful of them, human beings that you care for them? You have made them a little lower than the angels and crowned them with glory and honor.
This is why Jesus mentioned Solomon and all his glory. His glory is contrived, not who he is. Who you are is worth more than what you eat or wear. You are worth more than you know.
This is why Jesus mentioned Solomon and all his glory. His glory is contrived, not who he is. Who you are is worth more than what you eat or wear. You are worth more than you know.
You may be laid off, but your soul is a treasure . Your soul will lead you to re-arrange your circumstances to survive and grow. Your soul gives you the power to change the value of the things you possess. It’s like when some one leaves behind old furniture. It meant a lot to you once; now it is to be thrown away because you changed the value of it.
GOD MATTERS!
This shut in has made me consider all the things I’ve taken for granted.
The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.
Consider the flowers in the field...
You know how you feel when you walk around Franklin Park... all the money in the world cannot compare to the glory of a tree. Count the leaves... then remember God made them for you to breath.
DO NOT WORRY.
(Recommendations….)
SEEK THE KINGDOM, THAT MEANS...FOCUS ON WHAT MATTERS MOST.
If I am out of work, there are two things I cannot afford.
I cannot afford to pay my billsI cannot afford to worry
The Corinthians found something. gave out of their poverty…
In the midst of a very severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity.
They gave out of their poverty. If I learn to give out of my poverty, then all of us will be rich. The person I help will be rich, and my life will be enriched. I will seek the kingdom
Jesus promised, all these other things I need will be given to me. I believe his promise.