No Excuses

Welcome

Welcome to Celebration. We are so glad that you are here. My wife, Maegan and I are honored to serve as the Lead Pastors and if there is anything that we can do to better serve you and your family, please don’t hesitate to let us know. If you are joining for the first time welcome, or digitally, we welcome you as well and want to invite you to join us if you are ever in the Orlando area.

Season Update

Hey church fam, I have some exciting news to share with you for next month. As you know we are incredibly fortunate to be able to gather in such an amazing venue. Our relationship with OMA is an incredible blessing to our church and community. This collaborative relationship is built on grace and flexible. Next month is going to look a little different for us. We are calling it Unique November.

November 14th: OMA will have an event during the day so our service will be at night

November 21st: Serve Sunday. As we prepare for Thanksgiving we will serve as a church at US Hunger. We have # spots, so please register you and your family

November 28: Church @ Home Sunday. We are asking that you please invite family and friends to watch service with you. This a great opportunity to spend time with family, friends, with food!

Series Recap

I hope you have been enjoying the Signs series. If you are new, we have been on an amazing journey through the Gospel of John and over the past few weeks we have been so encouraged at seeing the signs/miracles that Jesus performed. This inspires us because we know if God did it for them, He can and will do it for me!

John wrote this book to establish and strengthen our beliefs. A genuine miracle produces genuine faith.

John 20:30–31 CSB

30 Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples that are not written in this book. 31 But these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.

Our beliefs are built on what God has done and our expectations are He will do it again! What God has done for them, He can and will do for me!

Context/Background

Many of the miracles/signs that John mentions are around sacred holidays often referred to as feasts, festivals, and sabbath. The primary reason was to reveal that either Jesus fulfills the feast, the festival points to Jesus, or He has authority over said holiday.

Scripture

John 5:1–9 NLT

1 Afterward Jesus returned to Jerusalem for one of the Jewish holy days. 2 Inside the city, near the Sheep Gate, was the pool of Bethesda, with five covered porches. 3 Crowds of sick people—blind, lame, or paralyzed—lay on the porches. 5 One of the men lying there had been sick for thirty-eight years. 6 When Jesus saw him and knew he had been ill for a long time, he asked him, “Would you like to get well?” 7 “I can’t, sir,” the sick man said, “for I have no one to put me into the pool when the water bubbles up. Someone else always gets there ahead of me.” 8 Jesus told him, “Stand up, pick up your mat, and walk!” 9 Instantly, the man was healed! He rolled up his sleeping mat and began walking! But this miracle happened on the Sabbath,

Prayer

Today I want to talk to you on the theme of ambition and participation. I have entitled the message, No Excuses!

Jesus we thank you for your presence. I pray that you speak to us, inspire us, challenge us, and encourage. We ask for open eye, open ears and open hearts. In the name of Jesus, amen!

Illustration

Have you ever asked what you thought was a simple question but got a complicated answer? Full transparency, I am guilty of this. I was at my sons football game on Friday wearing my Eagles shirt and someone remarked, tough game, where are you from? I knew there was a question behind the question so I proceeded to tell him the last 17 years of my life. Born in Delaware, lived in Jax for 15 years, DC for 2, and have been here for the last 2.5 years! He was literally speechless. I am conditioned to answer fully, like going to a drive through. I give the whole order!

My parents can probably attest to this. You ask your kids a simple question and you get a trigonometry answer. Did you clean your room? So what happened was, I was about to clean my room and I remembered one of my friends was having a hard day and I felt compelled to check in on them. You always taught me to care for others, right? So, I called me friend to take their mind off of their troubles and we decided we should go to the movies…so can I have some money for the movies?

How did a simple question turn into a request but somehow become my fault? Sounds like Adam and Eve, right?

Transition

Isn’t it interesting the things we say and do to justify our lack of progress. Simple things gets complicated with reasons, rationale, and/or excuses. I told my son, that sounds like a lot of excuses. He said, no, I am giving you an explanation. Now we are having a battle of grammar. (welcome to my world) I told him, no, you are giving me an excuse.

Explanation vs Excuse

You know there is a difference between an explanation and an excuse. It can be very subtle in language but monumental in impact.

Explanation

to make known; to make plain or understandable; to give reason to

Excuse

to justify while removing blame or accountability; an explanation intended to avoid responsibility

Every explanation isn’t an excuse but every excuse has some form of an explanation

Illustration cont.

Did you finish cleaning your room? No sir. I am working on it. I should have done it sooner. That’s on me. I lost track of time while talking with a friend that is going through a hard time. I am going to finish it now. When I get done, would you mind if I go out to the movies? I want to take his mind off of it.

An explanation is to give an account and takes accountability; it’s a description of what happened and accepts responsibility, an excuse seeks to shift blame or justify what happened.

Explanation gives context of the past, an excuse justifies why you can’t move forward into the future.

Please understand, we all make excuses. Why we can’t go to the gym. Why we can’t:

go to the gym

go to church

group

give

serve

make the call

forgive

go back to school

start the business etc.

We all have our rationale and justification for the lack of progress. However, the thing that turns a victim to being victorious, is posture; is not letting the reality of what has happened to keep a move of God from happening!

You are not a victim, you are victorious

You may have fallen, but you are not a failure

You may have a struggle, but you are more than a conqueror

The biggest difference between an explanation and an excuse is maturity and posture.

Every bad excuse started out as a good explanation. A good explanation can turn into a bad excuse if it lingers too long

We must be careful that we don’t allow what has happened, to stop something new from happening.

Our excuses keep us and others bond to the chains to your lack of planning, preparation and/or posture. There are those that are depending on us and our excuses don’t make us dependable.

Our excuses can turn into the crutches that keep us stagnate. Are we leaning on our excuses more than God.

Excuses are the prisons that keep us from moving forward.

Observations

This man has been paralyzed for 38 years. 38 years is a long time. In 38 years, you can become numb to anything new happening. We call it acceptance but it’s actually a lack of hope. In 38 years you can learn how to spot out of towners. In 38 years, you develop rhythms that allow you to function with dysfunction.

There is a difference between making the best of your situation and making a bed in your situation.

Do You Want It?

Jesus shows up and asks this precious man, do you want to be made well? Such a simple question. He isn’t seeking an answer, He is searching for posture.

We have a part to play in the miracle we want to see. It can be so hard to receive the new thing with old logic. We can sometimes be so focused on the past that we miss what is right in front of us.

Before you can see it in your hands, you have to want it in your heart. Whatever is in your heart, you will invest in.

Isaiah 43:19 CSB

19 Look, I am about to do something new; even now it is coming. Do you not see it? Indeed, I will make a way in the wilderness, rivers in the desert.

Points

We have a part to play in the miracle that we want to see

His healer was standing in front of him and he couldn’t see it. He couldn’t see past his pain, comfort, normal. Jesus wants to do a new thing in every area of your lives: faith, family, finances, freedom, fitness. It is hard to experience something new when we are consumed with what is old. Jesus shows up to disrupt our normal.

Get Up

Jesus says GET UP. This is the same word that is connected to resurrection. It means to rise up. Egeiro. Jesus egeiro(d) Lazarus; Jesus egeiro(d) Himself. It is a verb. It has action. That means, the word has the power in it. When Jesus told the man to get up, the power was connected to the command. Jesus is telling some of us to get up from where you are. Rise above it. The power is connected to the command. It is time to get up. You have been there long enough. Get up.

The only way to move forward is to get up from the place that is keeping you at a standstill.

Instead of being at a standstill, stand on God’s word!

Get Focused

One thing at a time. Starting over can be overwhelming. So overwhelming that we don’t know where to start. When deciding to pay off debt, I didn’t know where to begin. Then I learned about the snowball effect. One thing rolls into the next thing and before you know it, you’ve paid everything off. Jesus tells the man, just pick up the mat. Do 1 thing. Do what you can.

Counseling

Group

Church

Date Night

Pay off 1 Bill

Get Going

Jesus tells him to walk. The word used is rendered a few ways meaning under foot, walk it out, or live. Notice, to walk it out means to live it and when we live it out, it is truly under our feet. If we want it to be under our feet, we have to truly put it under our feet and walk it out.

Closing

This miracle took place on the sabbath. The Pharisees were the protectors of the culture. They lorded over the people weaponizing religion to control people. They confronted the man about violating the law.

People that benefit from your bondage won’t celebrate your freedom. It’s like expecting a credit card company or bank to celebrate when you are debt free

This man likely knew the backlash he would face, but he responded to the words of Jesus. Another use for the word excuse is pardon. Jesus pardoned the his sins. There will always be an excuse on why you can’t move forward…There will always be a reason why you should.

Do you want to be made well? You have a part to play in the miracle you want to see. Stop making excuses

Get up

Get focused

Get going