The Road Home (Christ my Rock)

Introduction

My Name is Ryan

I am Originally from Colorado, now living in Marrero

I have been married for 10 years now and have 5 lovely kids.

I am a God fearing man, and seek to serve and please Him.

I work for the New Orleans RTA (city Public Transit)

I have one sister

Oh, and my favorite color is blue.

I gave my life to the Lord in March of 2009

This Afternoon I want to talk to you about God’s Faithfulness, hope, a solid foundation.

Country Roads

what is your earliest memory? your starting point.

like you, every story has a start, mine starts on the mountain roads of Colorado.

Driving down windy roads, listening to John Denver with my dad.

driving to mount evens, looking at the trees. snow capped mountains.

my house was perched on the side of the hill, past where the asphalt road ended and turned to dirt.

describe Evergreen house

My parents were married young, and we had all recently moved to the mountains of Colorado from Texas.

My parents were both loving to my sister and myself.

sounds like a perfect picture, right? well many times your perception of the world does when you are 5.

Got my first dose of reality.

My parents marriage, Like many today, ended in divorce.

To a 5 year old kid, that did not mean much.

after my mom told me, the most I really got out of it was we were getting two houses, and two Christmases.

But then the reality of what that looked like started to set in.

The once loving looks turning to those of anger and frustration

custody battles, and court appointed therapy sessions to determine where the best out come for you is.

But none the less life goes on. Fast forward a few years

My Mom was Catholic, My dad was Lutheran.

My Mom brought my sister and me to charismatic every Wednesday, I did this until about 6th grade.

I started asking real questions about God. I had always felt that God was there.

I got to a point where I could read (sort of)

Q&A night with the Priest.

After that night And up the start of high school I did profess to be a Christian, I knew there was a God, but struggled with how to apply it all in my life.

Good and bad examples of Christians.

Finally, I took a verse in Revelation, and told all my christian friends at the time, that I would rather be cold than hot and I was not going to be a Christian anymore.

From that point until March of 2009 I lived like the world. Lived for myself.

Leading up to that night in 2009, I started drinking, a lot.

I got a Scholarship to a Trade-school in Daytona Beach

Week after bike week - Razzles story

That Night - The war with God.

Morning - YMCA

4. Staying in Daytona, and the break from my old friends

5. Struggles with new found father with Dad

6. Impact

7. Canada

8. Marriage

a. wife in a new country. no friends.

9. Death of father

10. Law suit

12. Transit

13. School

14. Moving to New Orleans

15. (lots of kids along the way)

16. stresses of work

16. providing for a family

17. running a business

Hope

1. Humanities greatest strength and weakness.

Hope is the Inextinguishable spark that ignites our soul, it keeps us going even when we are surrounded by utter darkness. Hope is what presses us forward , believing in something better is to come.

Pro 13:12 “Hope that is deferred makes the heart sick, but a desire fulfilled is a tree of life.”

Hope is a powerfull thing (elaborate).

But it can be misplaced.

Hope can be applied to things outside of the foundations of faith.

Can hope for a car - start to work hard (or steal it)

Hope for a wife -

Hope for a favorite meal - brisket

hope for a promotion or raise

hope for joy

some days i just hope someone brings doughnuts to the meeting

The placement or the foundation upon which that hope is placed is essential.

Foundation

Context Luke 6:46-49

Jesus Has Just Gathered His disciples and named 12 of them Disciples

He has preformed some miracles, (healed the man with the withered hand)

Forgiven sins, son of man has the authority to do so (Chapter 5)

The start to the sermon on the mount, and a multitude of people are listening to to him. And he ends with this passage.

Goes through the beatitudes

Talks about love and correction

how to handle enemies

self examination and bearing fruits of godliness.

But ends, or climaxes all these points on foundation. With out a solid foundation all else is moot.

Luke 6:46-49 “But why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do the things which I say? 47 Whoever comes to Me, and hears My sayings and does them, I will show you whom he is like: 48 He is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently against that house, and could not shake it, for it was founded on the rock. 49 But he who heard and did nothing is like a man who built a house on the earth without a foundation, against which the stream beat vehemently; and immediately it fell. And the ruin of that house was great.”

Take a moment, Think, What could happen in life that would shake you to your core. - Death of some one close, sickness, financial distress, getting laid off.

The First Wave

On top of the world

Just finished Impact

Internship in Canada hosting youth rallies (Share the Flare)

Married - Apartment - new Job

Wife who loves Jesus, Street ministry going on down town Denver

Talking to My dad about Jesus, and watching his life start to change.

September, 21 2012 The wave hit.

Birthday bowling ball - tried to get my dad to come.

3 AM phone call

stopped to pray

The Aftermath

Funeral

Taking over my dad’s business’

The silent times, when no one else is there, but my self and my own thoughts.

The Second Wave

The business is going great

Able to do ministry, I have my own business to work my own schedule

The wave hits

My stepmom sues me

She changed our original agreements on my dad’s estate.

(Practical lesson, put agreements in writing. yes even with family)

End up losing the business

Third wave

Wife has a miscarriage

Dog dies

Even the little things start to seem at this point

The hot water heater goes out

Truck breaks down

I MEAN IT SOUNDS LIKE A BAD COUNTRY SONG

But then came the peace, a reset, repentance, and Rejoice

1 peter 4:12-13 Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you; 13 but rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ’s sufferings, that when His glory is revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy.

Wait… That sounds a lot like that hope thing.

But now it sounds like we added another element. FAITH

Hope is only as good as where it is placed.

Watch for the subtilties on the placement

The first wave - my dad died. My intimidate reaction was prayer, christ, what am I suppose to learn through this? What happened?

Faith and Hope rested in him.

Second wave It stays sort of the same, but now I’m starting to wish and hope for it all just to be over

by the time the 3rd wave hit, I’m starting to get frustrated. Thoughts start to shift to come on God, save me from this situation.

a lack of Hope Can lead you to insanity - and endless pit -

Hope of a situation ending can drive some one to

drinking or other numbing activities

hope of pain ending can even lead some one to death.

Hope has the power to lead some one to victory

Hope of victory keeps the solider pushing in battle

hope in a better life for their children keeps a parent pushing through struggles and hardships

Hope for life keeps the some one with a sickness through the pains and trials of painstaking medical treatments

Placement of Hope In Christ as our foundation.

Hope of a place of no more suffering, where every tear is wiped away.

A cool place, where we get to walk in the cool of the day with God.

I think about those cool morning drives with my dad as a young kid in Colorado, when the world was perfect. It will be so much better than that.

Heb 11

The New King James Version Chapter 11

Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen

Faith becomes the catalyst for our hope.

The New King James Version Chapter 11

3 By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible.

The 11th chapter of the book of Hebrews has been deemed the chapter of faith.

If you want to see what Faith looks like look at this chapter.

Many Men of faith are named here, and the reason they are seen as faithful.

Able, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Sarah Hoped to bare a child and was found faithful.

The New King James Version Chapter 11

13 These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off

Hope, Placed in the catalyst of Faith as the foundation to persevere the trials and hardships of this life...

Overcoming

We have tools in our bag to overcome

Since my Big 3 waves, the waters still rise and splash against my foundation. They are just different now.

Kids, work, ministry, life, broken vehicles, broken bones, sickness, finances, pandemics

They are all just different now, and I try to reline my prospective with His.

Instead of looking for a way out, I look for a way through.

what if you were part of an army had a stock pile of guns and ammunition cannons and high tech weapons, and the enemy was coming at you with slingshots and swords.

But instead of taking all the guns and ammo, the army just leaves with the ammunition. The Ammunition is no good with out the gun. And they will be over run. Your army had the victory all won, all they had to do was show up with their weapons and would have easily won.

Greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world (1 John 4:4)

Be aware of who is in you. Be aware of your victory

Joy

TOUGH SORROW MAY LAST THROUGH THE NIGHT JOY COMES IN THE MORNING (psalm 30:5

Things May be different now than they were before the trial or hardship, but your foundation should be stronger. and you should grow.

Stay in the word, and prayer. Do it with a purpose, not as a task that needs to be completed. Do it to build the foundation.

Read the word with purpose to build and learn

Romans 10:14 How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? 15 And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!”

b. Reading the word, build up your faith, give context to your hope and joy, and allows you to share that with others.

b. Prayer

Prayer is our communication with God.

A time to tell God what is on our hearts

Requests

Burdens- Lay it on him

Jonah

Fleeing from God on a ship,

The great storm on the sea

Tossing everything off the ship

Then the men were exceedingly afraid and said to him, “What is this that you have done!” For the men knew that he was fleeing from the presence of the Lord, because he had told them.

DON'T FLEE FROM THE PRESENCE OF GOD. Talk to him.

1 peter 3:12

The Lexham English Bible Chapter 3

For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous,

and his ears are open to their prayer.

But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil

Walk In Repentance

Pay attention to what is going on, stay aware, Keep that New mind that is in Christ.

Try to turn and change your mind before walking off the cliff.

The Beauty of the Trial is the hope that when it is over, we will be closer to Christ, and that joy cannot be taken away.

On Christ the solid Rock I stand

V1; My hope is built on nothing less Than Jesus' blood and righteousness I dare not trust the sweetest frame But wholly lean on Jesus' name

V2: When darkness veils His lovely face I'll rest on His unchanging grace In every high and stormy day My anchor holds within the veil

V3: His oath, His covenant, His blood Support me in the whelming flood When all around my soul gives way He then is all my hope and stay

V4: When He shall come with trumpet sound Oh, may I then in Him be found Dressed in His righteousness alone Faultless to stand before the throne

Chorus: On Christ the solid rock I stand All other ground is sinking sand All other ground is sinking sand

Closing Prayer