Lodge Service April 28/22

Jesus, the unfailing God

Proverbs 3:5–6 NKJV

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths.

I came across the story of a Pastor that was on the Titanic. The Titanic was to be the unsinkable ship. Some said that it was the ship that God Himself couldn’t sink.

April 15, 1912, the Titanic sunk because it hit an iceberg in the North Atlantic. Shortly before midnight, it struck an iceberg and nobody really knew how serious it was.

John Harper, his six year-old daughter, NIna, and a relative was on the ship. John’s daughter and relative were rescued as they were put on Lifeboat #11.

John went about sharing helping others find safety and sharing the hope that he had in Jesus Christ. To one he shared about Christ and the man rejected the so Harper gave him the lifejacket that he was wearing, and he said, “You need this more than I do.”

Several years later at a meeting of survivors of the Titanic, one man shared his story of John Harper swimming around the frigid waters of the north Atlantic calling for people to give their lives to Christ. He came to this man and encouraged him to give his life to Christ. Finally, this man prayed to receive Christ.

Then Harper with so many others were swallowed by the waters of the Atlantic ocean. (Titanic True Story, Deep Roots at Home)

The story of the Titanic was a story of great tragedy for many people. There were many families that were affected, and yet God had placed a man that cared for others man than he cared for himself.

Philippians 2:3–8 NIV

Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others. In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death— even death on a cross!

It was love that compelled John Harper to make sure others were safe, even if it cost him his life. He truly valued others above himself.

2000 years ago, there was a man, named Jesus, who was fully God and fully man. He knew that His purpose for coming to earth was for others. He humbled Himself and became a man.

This means that Jesus understands what you are going through. He lived and breathed and even faced joys and difficulties like we do. Hebrews 4:15-16

Hebrews 4:15–16 NKJV

For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

Janice chose songs today that have told us that we can depend on Jesus to be there for us. Because Jesus experienced life, because He was tempted and tested, we can come to Him with confidence. We can trust that He will hear us when we call. He longs to show mercy and grace to us. Mercy means that we don’t get what we deserve and grace means that we get what we don’t deserve.

Obedient to death.

Jesus humbled Himself and even though every fiber of humanity within Him would have chosen another path, Jesus chose to die on a cross.

Romans 5:6–11 NIV

You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him! For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! Not only is this so, but we also boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.

Many of you have experienced hope in Christ because you have received Him as your Lord and Saviour. You can come to Him knowing that He hears and answers your prayers.

Some of you may not yet know Jesus as your Lord and Saviour. Because He died for the wrong things that each of us have done, we can call on Him. Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.

This past week a dear friend of ours, Juanita Bowman, went to be with Jesus. She is with Jesus today because she loved Jesus with all of her heart, and she would want nothing more than to see each of us again.

It’s a simple prayer, “Lord, be merciful to me a sinner. Please come into my life and take away my sins. Thank you for dying on the cross for me, and coming into my life. In Jesus’ name. Amen.