Hannah's Sermon
Notes
Transcript
Good afternoon! Thank you so much for having me. It is an honor to be here to share with you today. Some of you may recognize me, I am Hannah Wilson. I am Pastor Josh’s sister. Maybe I shouldn’t have told you that before I spoke…I have big shoes to fill today! Just a little bit about me, My husband Dustin and I pastor Dan River Wesleyan Church in Eden, NC. We have 5 amazing kiddos - my two oldest girls are here with me today. They are 13, 11, 8, 5, and 2. 3 girls and 2 boys. To say we are busy would be an understatement, however, I wouldn’t trade this time in our lives for anything. As challenging as things can be at times, I honestly can say, I am truly blessed and thankful that God has given this to me as my most important ministry - raising them up in the ways of the Lord and pouring into them as much as possible while they are under my roof. It is the hardest, but most rewarding job I’ve ever had. And let me just add, coffee/heath bar ice cream is heaven in your mouth…trust me, if you haven’t tried it head to Coldstone after this…you won’t regret it!
Ok enough about me, let’s dive in to what God has for us today, shall we? Ok!
When Sherry contacted me about speaking and told me the theme, I immediately was excited. When I think of Fall, my favorite season, one of my most favorite things about it is going apple picking! Anybody feel me? Yes! It is so much fun! We used to live in Upstate SC and we would go to Skytop Orchard, just over the NC line, every year to pick apples! Often times we would go with Joshua and Keisha and it was always so much fun. Well, when we moved to Salisbury in 2011, I looked and looked but there just weren’t any apple orchards near there that I could find, and for years we didn’t go. Every Fall, I would try again to find a place but for whatever reason it didn’t work out. Fast forward to this year, and I was determined to start looking early and find a place. I happened to find Millstone Creek Orchards in Ramseur and they just happened to be picking Honey Crisp apples the very week I looked! I was so excited. I booked tickets for all of us, my parents, and my nieces, Addison & Jordyn, and off we went! We had a blast and the kids absolutely LOVED it! We came home with tons of apples, enjoyed a hayride, apple cider slushes and apple donuts! It was great!
Well fast forward about a week, and the boys wanted some cut up apples for lunch one day. I went to one of our many bags of apples to pull out some and what I discovered was disappointing to say the least. Almost every apple I pulled out was bruised and/or rotten. You see, when you take kids, especially young ones, to pick apples, they often don’t realize the need to be gentle and treat the apples with an abundance of care. I was able to salvage enough to piece together for their lunch, but my hope of a beautiful, round, perfect apple was lost.
The care that it takes to keep an apple from damage is significant. And just as God can use anything to speak to us, I believe he wants to use this today. Let’s turn to his word and read from
6 I call on you, my God, for you will answer me; turn your ear to me and hear my prayer.
7 Show me the wonders of your great love, you who save by your right hand those who take refuge in you from their foes.
8 Keep me as the apple of your eye; hide me in the shadow of your wings
9 from the wicked who are out to destroy me, from my mortal enemies who surround me.
10 They close up their callous hearts, and their mouths speak with arrogance.
11 They have tracked me down, they now surround me, with eyes alert, to throw me to the ground.
12 They are like a lion hungry for prey, like a fierce lion crouching in cover.
13 Rise up, Lord, confront them, bring them down; with your sword rescue me from the wicked.
Pray.
The psalmist, David, is crying out to God.
8 Keep me as the apple of your eye; hide me in the shadow of your wings,
I want to spend a little time with that phrase this afternoon.
The phrase “apple of your eye” is another way of saying the “pupil of your eye.” When this was written, it was in a time when eye sight was precious and glasses and corrective lenses were not readily available, the pupil was thought of as extremely precious and something to be protected.
Let’s take it a step further…
The Hebrew word used for “the apple of” , ishon, seems to refer to the small reflection seen in the pupil of someone’s eye. The phrase describes keeping something close and carefully watching over it. (Logos Faithlife Study Bible)
I don’t know about you, but I have had to wear glasses since I was in third grade. Not being able to see clearly is discouraging and can be very unnerving. If you have glasses, try to think back to the first time you got them. I was reminded of this recently when my daughter Emmaline who is 8 just got glasses 2 weeks ago. Her eyes drastically changed over the last several months. It was like the whole world opened up to her! She was so excited to wear them because she could see clearly!
Our eyes are vital if we are going to have clear vision. Now stay with me, when we stay in the reflection of God - the image of him - is reflected in us. We are created to image Him. Our desire should be to let His reflection be in us so we can see clearly.
In 2020, we all thought that we had 20/20 vision. Ha, we can laugh now because the truth is we had NO CLUE what this year was going to bring back in January. I think in a lot of cases, we were trying to see by our own eyesight, but instead we should have been walking by faith. When we see clearly, we are seeing the image of God.
From the beginning, we were created to be image-bearers of God.
27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.
In order for us to truly see clearly, we must be close enough to God, to see our reflection in his eyes. David, the psalmist, is asking him here to keep us close. In a few other versions instead of the word “keep” me as the apple of your eye, it says “Guard” or “Protect.”
(May need a connecting sentence here to help with transition)
“hide me in the shadow of your wings”
“hide me in the shadow of your wings”
This phrase is often seen in the OT as an image of finding shelter or refuge under God’s wings. It compares the tender way God loves and cares for His people with the way birds protect and care for their young. Those who seek refuge under God’s wings find satisfaction and protection from danger. - (Logos FaithLife Study Bible)
Have any of you guys ever raised chickens? We have chickens, we love fresh eggs! There is nothing like them! Sometimes, a hen will become what they call broody. A broody hen will often times lay her eggs in the same place everyday and not leave them except for once a day to eat, drink, and go potty. Especially if you have free range chickens, a broody hen will want to sit on her nest and do what God designed her to do and protect those eggs until they hatch. Now, biology tells us if you don’t have a rooster in your flock, those eggs are never going to turn into chicks, but that chicken doesn’t know that. She is determined to sit on those babies until it’s time for them to be born. A broody hen can be aggressive and possessive and difficult to get those eggs from.
When I read this part of the passage, I think about God as being a broody hen. Being in the protection of the shadow of his wings means that he won’t let anything get to you! He will allow you to rest in the security of his love.
1 He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.
2 I will say to the Lord, “My refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.”
Resting in His shadow, the closer we are to Him, the more we are in His shadow, means the more we are in His image, therefore the more we are representing Him in the world.
“Imaging God means being God’s representation on earth.” Dr. Michael Heiser
What is the perfect image of God? Jesus.
15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.
16 For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him.
17 And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.
Our goal should always be to become more and more like Jesus. But, as we do that we must
Know our enemy.
Know our enemy.
Yes, David was speaking about his enemies and asking God for refuge, but we know that our enemy is Satan.
He is on the prowl. He is ready to devour us at any moment. The last thing he wants is to see us where God wants us to be. To see us growing closer and closer to God. He is going to use every method possible to distract, divide, and discourage us from following the path that God desires for us.
The devil doesn’t want us to image God. He also doesn’t want us to see others in the image of God. The way we treat others should be as image-bearers of Christ. (repeat?)
We don’t battle between flesh and blood like Paul says in Ephesians (6:12) because now days, especially during this election season, it seems like many people think we do…understanding this helps us to see that we are to love others by seeing them in the image of God and we are in war between the powers of this dark world, not each other.
Satan is prowling like a lion, looking for someone to devour -
8 Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour.
9 Stand firm against him, and be strong in your faith. Remember that your family of believers all over the world is going through the same kind of suffering you are.
The battle.
The battle.
There is literally a battle going on for your soul. Once you turn your life over to Jesus, let me tell you, its amazing, but its not all cupcakes and roses! Satan doesn’t just stop bothering you once you start living for Jesus. In fact, you are more of a threat to him then, than you are before you accept Christ as your Savior. He will do everything he can to prevent you from bringing others into the family of God.
However, we can be encouraged -
33 “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”
"In this world you will have trouble. But take heart, I have OVERCOME the world.
I want to close with this encouragement.
God’s love for you is extravagant.
So many times, we come to the table of our relationship with God carrying our preconceived notions of love. Based on our past experiences, etc.
But guys, God meets us right where we are, but he loves us too much to leave us there.
Have you ever been treated as the absolute most precious thing by someone? Maybe some of you have, but maybe some of you haven’t. Maybe you are struggling with your image and who are you in Christ. I’m here to tell you today - You are the apple of God’s eye. You can rest in the shadow of his wings. You do not have to walk through this life alone, in fact, you aren’t supposed to. We were created to do life with others. You were created in God’s image to be an image-bearer to a world that desperately needs him.
I would invite you all to close your eyes. I’m not sure why we were brought together today. Or what part of this message spoke to you the most. My prayer from the beginning was that God would get me out of the way so he could do a work in you today. If he’s working on your heart right now, I just invite you to raise you hand, with no one looking around. I just want to pray for you this afternoon. I know what it’s like to be tired. I know what it’s like to feel alone. I know what is like to struggle with being content in the body, and personality God created you to be. I know what it’s like to feel like you don’t matter to anyone.
God wants more for you than those lies that the enemy tries to tell you. Jesus says in John he came so that you could have life and have it to the full! You have a true gift in this church. To be able to have people around you here that love you, and will support you and walk with you through the storms of life. Lean into it. Don’t allow Satan to deceive you into thinking you have to do this alone. You don’t. God wants to invite you in close, and transform you into who he designed you from the beginning to be. Are you willing to let him? Are you willing to surrender? Its so very good when you do.
Let’s pray.