The Greatest One Word Sermon I Ever Heard

Maybe it is the only one word sermon I ever heard. I’m not sure. But it was the best. It was convicting, encouraging, challenging, and crystal clear all at the same time. The speaker delivered it from his heart. It stirred my emotions while bringing me to a point of deep mediation and self-examination. It stuck with me. I have thought about it a lot since it was preached. I even memorized it!

And here was the sermon, preached so eloquently by Sam Yacoub, our Worship Leader: 

“Sweet!”

It was especially impacting because of when it was preached. Let me back up a step.

Church planting has been a battle. The enemy has come after us in every imaginable way. Name it, Satan has done it. He knows what we are about, and what we are about to do. He knows we are passionate about Jesus Christ and His Gospel, so the devil has been trying to derail this train before it gets out of the depot.

We have struggled financially. We have struggled with people leaving our group. We have struggled. And if you have ever struggled with anything (like, who hasn‘t? right?), you know it can become easy to put your eyes on the mountain before you and take your eyes off of the God who can move mountains.

And as we get closer to launch, it is also oh-so-easy to focus on what we need. We need this equipment, this leader, this much money. We need, we have to have, make sure we keep asking God for… It’s glaring us in the face, as the launch date of the church is bearing down on us. It’s pressure. And this is the first church I have ever planted, so it’s not like I have personal experience to draw on.

Anyways, at our Leader Team meeting a few weeks ago, we were discussing what was needed to get us to launch. After some discussion, I asked our Financial Assistant Michele what was in our account. She told the group. And Sam, still a relative newcomer to the group, blurted out a response. He said, “Sweet!”

Yeah, it is sweet! God forgive me for lamenting what we don’t have instead of celebrating what you have provided. How short sighted I can be!

I needed a brother who I knew would be committed no matter what happened, and God provided Dale.

We needed someone to handle the finances when we first got started, and what was the first thing God provided when we first got started? Take a guess. (You‘re right! It was Michele.)

We needed someone to handle facility and equipment issues, and God gave us Dave.

We needed people to head up Children’s Ministry, and God provided the best people in the Bloomingdales.

We needed someone who understands how Harvest works, and God provided Colleen.

We needed someone to work with our youth, and God provided a leader in Bob AND a whole youth group!

We needed a passionate worship leader, and God gave us TWO, in Sam and Laura Yacoub.

We needed contagious enthusiasm and joy, and God sent Dan and Alicia.

We needed someone to head up hospitality, and God brought Amanda and Ken to us.

We needed someone who can help design promotional things, and God loaned us Ryan and gave us Bob (a different Bob).

I needed a brother to come alongside and push me, and God brought me Neil Henretty.

I needed a wife who is supportive, confident and organized. God provided Erin quite a while ago, as if He knew what I needed!

There are so many others God has brought along at some point in this journey who have been such a blessing: Brookie, the Svestkas, the Waters, Iron Man, the Dunlaps, Cranmers, Ovenshines, Persics, Steigerwalds… I didn’t even want to start a list because I didn’t want to leave anyone out. If I did, I sincerely apologize. I love you and would not forget you intentionally. Just a lot on my mind lately. Trying to plant a church, you know? Leave a comment below if I forgot you and I will publicly apologize. :)

I think this is why Paul wrote in Philippians 4:6: do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.

Cry out to God for what you need. But do it with thanksgiving, a grateful heart acknowledging what He has already done.

Sweet!

p.s. - blessed with the greatest people anywhere ever, but none of them think I am going to start doing one word sermon

The Don’ts and Dos of Prayer

One last word on prayer (for now). Many books have been written about prayer and countless sermons are preached on prayer, rightfully so, because prayer is a such a huge blessing for the Christian. So this little blog isn't going to be exhaustive. In just a few short verses in Matthew 6, Jesus taught so much about prayer. Let's take a look at what Jesus said are the DON’Ts and DOs of prayer.

1. You DON’T Pray for Show (6:5-6)
   
   People have asked me if they should pray for their car. I have been asked if it is OK to pray for your dog. As far as I can see, there is really one thing you don’t pray for. You don’t pray for show. There is a time and place for public, congregational prayer, but your prayer is never to be for a pat on the back from others. That’s why Jesus said the getting real with God means getting alone in prayer.
    
2. You DON’T Pray to a Nothing (6:7-8)
   
   When we pray, we don’t have to talk and talk and talk and talk and talk and talk and talk to get God’s attention, as if He is aloof and only responds when we get on His nerves. Jesus said, “Empty phrases piled high, that’s what the Pagans do.” Even in our culture the idea is propagated that if we repeat a specific pre-fabricated prayer or two, a certain number of times, that makes God happy. Incorrect. God already knows what you need before you pray, so the recital doesn’t help. You aren’t throwing up words to a nothing, you are talking to the sovereign, living God! Then why pray? Prayer does not make God understand, it is so we can have the experience of Him understanding, knowing ourselves that He knows.
    
3. You DO Pray as a Worshiper (6:9-10)
   
   Jesus said to pray like this. Obviously not just repeating the phrases, He already covered that idea. But the “Lord’s Prayer” (or the “Disciple‘s Prayer“) gives us the ingredients that go in the recipe of prayer. The first few (what we find in verses 9 and 10) go under the heading of worship. We pray to the Father, through the Son, and with the Holy Spirit, and all with a heart of worship for Who God is, What He has done, and What He will do.
    
4. You DO Pray as a Dependent (6:11-15)
   
   God doesn’t file taxes, but if He did, how many dependents would He put down? The answer is: everybody in the history of the world. Whether they acknowledge Him or not, whether they bow the knee to Him or not, every single person is utterly dependent on God. The believer is the only one who truly gets this, and Jesus shows us that we are to pray for provision, forgiveness, direction, and protection. We desperately need God in these four areas, and Jesus said to get after these in prayer.

I recently finished a book on prayer. It was full of truths on prayer, based on the Word of God, but it didn’t really teach me anything new about prayer. And all those other books I have read, the sermons I have heard, the podcasts I have listened to - though they were all good - none have really taught me a lot about how to pray. The best way to learn how to pray is by praying.

Let’s get back to this glorious truth: God moves in the lives of His people when they pray.

p.s. - 1 Thessalonians 5:17

Jesus: My Example for Prayer

Not only do we have the greatest resource in the world, and leave it unused too often, but we make excuses why we don’t use it! If you read the last blog, you get that we are talking about prayer.

Somehow Christians have normalized prayerlessness. But it is not normal. If I went to the doctor and told him I haven’t eaten anything in 2 weeks, he would say something is wrong…because that isn’t normal. Normal is eating. Prayerlessness is the same. Normal, for the believer, is praying.

I wondered one time, “Has there ever been anyone who doesn’t need to pray?” And my knee-jerk reaction was, “Jesus: did He need to pray? He, being God, didn’t need to repent, had all knowledge… maybe He is the only one who didn’t need prayer.” But the Bible shows us over and over - Jesus was constantly devoted to prayer!

One verse in particular is Mark 1:35, which says, “And rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he departed and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed.”

This verse is an excuse killer for me. And it must be for you. Jesus “shuts up” our excuses. Let’s see how He does it for the top three excuses:

“I don’t have time.” - Where does the time go? I have to ask myself that about twice a week. Have you ever kept a “time log“? I had to as a project for ministry work a few years ago. I was amazed at how much time is spent on some things, and comparatively how little is spent on others (yes, like praying!). I spent 3 hours watching a ball game, but when it came to talking to the God of the universe? No time for that? Here is a truth that is across the board: people always have time for what they to have time for. Jesus took advantage of time by getting up very early in the morning.

“I’m too busy.” - This is the tag-team partner of the previous excuse. Too busy. Too much work here, too much running around there. Jesus was pretty busy. But He made prayer a priority. He got up early and got away from it all by going to adesolate place . Before I do anything, I got to get away from everything, and get on my knees in prayer.

“I’m just not sure how to pray” - Jesus taught us exactly how to pray, and we’ll look at what He said next time.

p.s. - no excuses

God has given me the best resource in the world. Do I use it?

Imagine you are working for a large company and your boss gives you a 5 page document, and she wants you to make 80 copies. She walks you down the hall and shows you the biggest, fastest, state-of-the-art copying machine, and says, “Here, this is completely at your disposal!” And you promptly sit down at a desk, grab a pencil and a ream of blank paper, and proceed to hand copy the documents she wants, one word at a time. 

That is crazy. You are offered the best resource in the world, and you do the job your own way with your own abilities. But the crazier thing is, you and I often do the same type of thing every day! God Himself has given us the greatest resource in the universe: Himself! And He has given us access to Himself through a means we can use anytime, anywhere, and for any reason: prayer. 

Why don’t we pray as we should? Why are we willing to operate in our own strength and struggle before we call on the greatest Person in the universe to help us? Who, by the way, wants to help us, actually commanded us to call on Him, and always delivers? 

The answer: I don’t really know. I have been a Christian for 16 years, and I still can’t figure this out. I am sure it has something to do with my pride. But God’s Word makes me sure of something else: He will break my pride until I become dependant on Him for everything, so the glory may rest on Whom it is due. Not me. The Lord. 

Colossians 4:2 reminds us: “Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving.” We need that reminder. Prayer is the thing we all need to get back to, reevaluate, tighten up in our own walks with God. This verse gives us three directives in prayer: 

1. I need to pray consistently. Not just before bed or before supper. Not just in church. Always. Constantly. Persistently. God is always with us, at home, work, school, parties, funerals, victory, defeat, morning, evening, rain or shine…Oh, to dwell in sweet communion with the Lord 24/7. Not just knowing He is there, but realizing He is there!
    
2. I need to pray expectantly. An oft-repeated phrase really annoys me. And it’s more the tone that is usually behind it than the words stated. It’s this: “All we can do is pray.” A large SIGH usually follows or precedes it. Like prayer is the ultimate “Hail Mary” pass (pardon the pun, I didn‘t come up with the name) from earth to heaven. I’ll just throw it up to heaven, maybe the right Person will get the message. WRONG! God hears, God responds, things happen - but we need to be watchful, as in “pray, then step back and watch at what God is going to do, because we know He is going to do something…for sure!!!”
    
3. I need to pray thankfully. Not the laundry list. Not the Christmas wish-list. Sure, we bring our needs before Him, but it must always be done in a spirit of gratitude for what He has already done. It is also thanking Him ahead of time for what He is going to do. This is an attitude of trust and faith. God, we need you so desperately, so thank you for bringing us this far, and we know you are going to take us the rest of the way. 

The next couple of blogs are going to be about prayer. But let’s not just talk about it. Let’s do it! 

p.s. - prayerlessness is carelessness!