Sermon Notes and Audio from July 29, 2012

Sunday, July 29, 2012,  I continued the series of messages preaching through the book of Romans with a new series "How NOW Shall We Live?" from Romans 12-16.  The sermon Sunday was "The Real Worship Wars" from Romans 12: 1.  Here is the link to the sermon notes.

Here is the audio:

Prayerlessness

In her book A Place of Quiet Rest, Nancy Leigh DeMoss includes several chapters on prayer. In a chapter titled “The Privilege of Prayer” she discusses a period of prayerlessness in her life and her growing conviction that she had to get to the root of it. “As God opened my eyes to this matter of prayerlessness, I asked Him to let me see it from His point of view. Here is what I wrote in my journal one day when God first began to deal with my heart.” She does not attempt to provide a doctrine of prayer or prayerlessness as much as a reflection on what prayerlessness means in her own life. I found it very helpful.

Here is what she says:

I am convicted that prayerlessness …

• is a sin against God (1 Samuel 12:23).
• is direct disobedience to the command of Christ (“watch and pray,” Matthew 26:41).
• is direct disobedience to the Word of God (“pray without ceasing,” 1 Thessalonians 5:17).
• makes me vulnerable to temptation (“watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation,” Matthew 26:41).
• expresses independence—no need for God.
• gives place to the Enemy and makes me vulnerable to his schemes (Ephesians 6:10-20; Daniel 10).
• results in powerlessness.
• limts (and defines) my relationship with God.
• hinders me from knowing His will, His priorities, His direction.
• forces me to operate in the realm of the natural (what I can do) versus the supernatural (what He can do).
• leaves me weak, harried, and hassled.
• is rooted in pride, self-sufficiency, laziness, and lack of discipline.
• reveals a lack of real burden and compassion for others.

Sunday Sermon, July 22, 2012

Yesterday, July 22, 2012,  I continued the series of messages preaching through the book of Romans with a new series "How NOW Shall We Live?" from Romans 12-16.  The sermon yesterday was "The Mercies of God" from Romans 12: 1.  Here is the link to the sermon notes.

Here is the audio:  

Some good advice for pastors

Michael Catt is Pastor, Sherwood Baptist Church, Albany, GA.  He writes the following article to pastors, but it is good for anyone to "look over their shoulders" to read this.  Some good advice.

A Word for Preachers...But You Can Listen :: Michael Catt

What should a preacher be known for? What is the purpose of preaching? In a day with multimedia special effects, drama and major productions, preaching and preachers have fallen on hard times. Many churches have canceled Sunday evening services because people won’t come back to hear the preacher. With the glut of TV preachers, the country preacher struggles and suffers when his people compare him to “Brother Spit and Polish.” What’s a called man to do?
First of all, he should remember that preaching is a divine calling. It is not a job. It’s not something you do because you are too stupid to do anything else. H. D. McDonald wrote that “a godly preacher is not the organ of a human fraternity, but the oracle of a divine gospel.”
The great expositor, G. Campbell Morgan said, “The only way in which a man can possibly enter the ministry is when the Holy Spirit of God bestows upon him a gift from the Head of the church. By that gift he is made a minister of Jesus Christ.” Paul makes it clear that pastor-teachers are one of God’s gifts to the church. I’ve seen some churches treat pastors like hired hands and pay them like slave labor. It’s obvious by the way many congregations and deacon bodies treat their pastor that they have no clue that he is a man with a sovereign commission from God.
If a young pastor forgets his divine call, he will soon drop out of seminary discouraged and disillusioned. If a pastor going through mid-life forgets his call, he will leave his wife and kids, his ministry, or both. Anytime the preacher forgets who he is really serving and who he ultimately answers to, he is on the road to ruin and despair.

It is a true statement – preachers don’t get paid for what they do, they get paid for what they put up with. If a farmer had a stubborn mule, he’d kick it, sell it, or kill it. If a preacher has a stubborn church member, he’s supposed to listen every time the donkey opens his mouth. Farmers can separate sheep and goats; pastors can’t. More than one preacher has been run off from a country church by an old goat that thought he was a sheep.
Another factor for the preacher to consider is his doctrine and exposition. Preach the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. He cannot chase every whim that comes along. He must not surrender to preaching to felt needs. Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God. Faith doesn’t come by making people feel better about their depravity. Discipleship doesn’t come in cherry flavored, bite sized drops. Preaching is not a mixture of truth, pop psychology, human reasoning, humor, Dear Abby, and a devotional thought. Preaching is the exposition of Scripture.
The Word of God is given to break hearts, not tickle ears. Preaching is to be an exhibition of truth. Preaching is telling folks how things really are, not how they want it to be. Pity the church that wants their preacher to be politically correct and Biblically corrupt. The power of the preaching moment is in the content – not the personality.

I once asked Ron Dunn how long a man can stay at a church as pastor? When do people get tired of hearing the same voice? His response was simple. “If you stay fresh, you can last.” Henry C. Fish put it this way, “Preachers who saturate their sermons with the Word of God never wear out.” A. W. Pink said, “The man who preaches the Word of God has an inexhaustible supply to draw from.”
I have preacher friends who blatantly preach other people’s sermons. They download sermons from a web site and walk into the pulpit with a word from their favorite preacher — but not a word from God. The man who does not spend time with God, wrestling with what his people need from God’s Word for this time in the life of the church is a discredit to the pulpit.

I once served a pastor who announced that he was preaching on Ephesians. Because I had organized his library, I knew what he had on his shelves. He had been at the church almost a year and had yet to unpack his library – meaning he was preaching old sermons. At that time I had eight or ten commentaries on Ephesians. I offered to let him borrow some of mine. His response? “No, I like to stick with one commentary when I preach through a book.” To be interpreted as, I don’t study, I don’t think, I don’t compare interpretations, I don’t dig in the Word for myself. I just mouth the words of others. During the series he preached through that commentary, almost word for word. Trust me; there was no power!
Nobody is original. If a preacher says he is, he’s deluded. We all glean and borrow. That’s why God gave us commentaries. But the message has to have permeated and penetrated our heart, soul, and mind or else we are giving our people leftovers from someone else’s table. D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones wrote, “Preaching is theology coming through a man who is on fire.”
Finally, I would say preach without fear. Deal with sin as sin. Speak of grace, but don’t be afraid to talk about divine judgment and holy wrath. A preacher will never be at peace with himself if he doesn’t speak the Word. Let the chips fall where they may. You are speaking for the Lord God of heaven and eternity. There are bigger things at stake than what “Sister Stick in the Mud” thinks. Don’t let the cold water committee douse the fire from heaven. Ask God for a holy unction and anointing from on high. You may get fired, but you’ll hear the applause of heaven. Vance Havner said, “Better be a free preacher who can walk into any pulpit responsible only to God, immune to praise or blame, than a ventriloquist’s dummy.”
Let me leave you with this thought, from Augustus H. Strong, “The preacher who talks lightly of sin and punishment does a work strikingly analogous to Satan, when he told Eve, ‘You will not surely die.’ “

(copyright, Michael Catt)

Author:	Michael Catt
Issue:	Volume 12 :: Issue 10

Sunday Sermon July 15, 2012

Today (7-15-12) I preached a message "Prayer:  The Most Important Thing a Christian Can Do." The notes for the message are here.  The audio is here:

Listening with our eyes

Debra Fine (in The Fine Art of Small Talk) wrote about 8-year-old Nick who told his dad about his day: "Dad, I had a great day at school. We had art class today, and I painted a cool picture of the mountains. We played soccer during gym, and I scored a goal. And guess what? They served pizza for lunch."

Looking at his dad whose nose was in the newspaper, Nick said, "Dad, you're not listening." His dad replied, "Yes I am, Son. You painted a picture of the mountains, scored a goal in soccer, and had pizza for lunch."

Nicolas was unappeased. "No, Dad; that's not it. You're not listening to me with your eyes."

David Jeremiah observes: "As parents, we don't always listen to our children as we should (hopefully we're improving), but our heavenly Father always listens with His ears, His eyes and His heart. We have His full attention. You can tell Him anything."

(Turning Point Daily Devotional, June 30, 2012)

Our Need for Revival

(Today, Michael Catt, Pastor, Sherwood Baptist Church, Augusta, GA posted this blog.  It is powerfully true.)

I am currently preaching two new series, “The Keys to Revival in America” on Sunday mornings and “Unfaithful” from the Book of Judges on Sunday evenings. As I prepare and preach, I’ve made two observances:

1) Occupy the altar every Sunday to say to those who are casually observing in our services and to God who is seriously watching, “We are serious…we want revival…we desperately need you.” I know this, you can’t read 2 Chronicles 7:14 and think God will answer a half-hearted prayer or a contented people. We need extraordinary effort and desperation to see any change.

2) While we at Sherwood live with some sense of revival, we’ve not seen an earth shaking, life altering, tears dripping, hearts breaking, hell shaking, God glorifying move of His Spirit. For that to happen, the prayer warriors need to step up our game. We need to take everything to another level. We need to be consumed with a passion for God to work as we’ve never seen Him work. Who will join me? Who will kneel before God at the altar? Who will intensify their praying? Who will ask God for tears?

As I’ve been working on these messages I am convinced, beyond any doubt, THIS SERIES along with the morning series, may be the most important series I’ve ever preached at Sherwood. I realize I’m doing this during the summer and they may continue past ReFRESH®. But the reality is, the devil will tell us there’s never a good time to stop our plans and cry out to God.

It’s as if I am reading the front page of every newspaper and seeing the trends of our times unfolding in the book of Judges. NO BOOK in Scripture has more to say to this carnal, backslidden, godless nation than the book of Judges. I can’t tell you how serious I think the times are. Not just because we have elections this year (one commentator has said this election is the most important in our lifetime), but because we are pushing the patience and grace of God to the limit. God is not going to sit back and let us mock Him, mock marriage, mock laws, mock morality, and get away with it. We were founded and blessed to be a blessing. Now we are a mockery of all that our nation once was.

I’m telling you, we need Sunday morning crowds on Sunday night. IT WILL HAPPEN IF AND WHEN GOD SHOWS UP. Until then, Sherwood will be content to have a taste of revival but never a banquet of blessings. While you might argue that point, I know that God has more for us than we are experiencing. I am one who lives on a personal and pastoral level with a holy discontent with the way things are. I know God has more for ME, and for US than we are experiencing.

It is said that the key to the Canadian Revival was when the prayer meeting became as big as the Sunday morning meeting. That being the case, we are 1400 people short of seeing revival. I’m not saying that’s a magical formula; I am saying that we talk about prayer more than we pray as a church. How often I’ve watched people looking around and doing nothing when we’ve called on people to pray before I led in a corporate prayer. This must change if we want God to take us seriously.

I believe we are wallowing in undeserved blessings. I know I am. God has been better than I deserve, and I’ve settled for less than He demands of me. I need to be all in. I need you to be all in. Time is short. Hell is hot. Eternity is long. We only get this life to do what we are going to do for the Lord.

Let’s pray as if the very life of our families, our children, our grandchildren and our nation depends on it. FYI – it does.

The Old Tricks of the Devil

The old saying, "you can't teach an old dog new tricks" is sure true of our enemy, Satan.  First of all, he is a dog.  No good, dog.

But the tricks he uses are not new....he is still doing what he has always done.

In Genesis 3 (where he makes his appearance in Scripture), he uses three tools against our first mother and father.

1.  Tool number one - "God is not good."
2.  Tool number two - "God is not serious."
3.  Tool number three - "God is a little jealous petty ruler."

These are all lies but he keeps using them.  Wise up....and be a winner.

Wilburn and Wilburn in Concert this Sunday

This Sunday (July 8) we have the privilege of hosting for the second time "Wilburn and Wilburn."  Jonathan Wilburn and his son, Jordan, will be in a full concert at 10:15 at CrossRoads Baptist Church.  A love offering will be received.  For more about their ministry, visit their web site at wilburn2.com.

What Should be our Response to National Catastrophes?

This past Sunday, I preached about the judgement of God on this nation.  God won't judge this nation, He is already judging this nation.

For most of American history, national catastrophes and wars were times when people examined themselves to see if they were under the disciplinary action of God. In our day, however, we no longer fear God. Could you imagine what would have happened to President Bush if he had raised the possibility that 9/11 might have been a wake up call from God? Yet, in 1863 the U.S. Senate and President Lincoln attributed the Civil War, in which 600,000 Americans lost their lives, as a probable judgment of God on the nation for our sins. Their fear of God led them to recognize they were under the judgment of God and return to Him. Today neither the majority of God’s people nor the nation fear God. Until we return to a biblical theology like our forefathers, we will not survive.

We love the verse that says, "If God is for us, who can be against us."  But let me change that to say, "If God is against us, what does it matter who is for us?"

Sermon July 1, 2012

This past Sunday (July 1, 2012) I preached concerning judgement on our nation in a message "How to Detect the Judgement of God" from Job 12: 11-25.  Here are the sermon notes.

Here is the audio of the message:

Update from Sunday's message

Later today I will be posting the audio and sermon notes from Sunday's message "How to Detect the Judgement of God" concerning the judgement of God on our nation.

In the course of the message I was speaking concerning how we should respect our leaders and even give "thanks to God" for them because they are only in the place of authority because of God's authority, not theirs.

As I recall, I said, "No one should speak bad of President Obama."  Let me assure you that our liberties in America permit you to say just about anything (within limits) that you wish to say about anybody.  But the point I wanted to make was that as a Christian, we must not speak in a demeaning way filled with bitterness, anger and hate.  We need to watch our attitudes and our words.

It greatly troubles me when I hear anyone speak harshly of our President.  One does not have to agree with everything or anything, but we need to respect the office in our speech and actions.  For in my opinion, it is a respect that reflects on God, not just the President.

This lack of respect across our nation (in both political parities) is greatly troubling.  I remember hearing a man recall his mother's (who was quite aged) talking her views of the President.  They were discussing that she did not vote for the current President, but was quick to say, "But he is my President now."  From what I remember, that conversation took place in the 60s.

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, let us rise above the sewer politics and statements by honoring God by honoring those God puts in office.  I doubt very strongly that God approves of many of the actions of our current President, but he is not in office without God allowing him to be there.  Is this an act of grace or judgement on us as a nation?  As I said in the message Sunday, America is under the judgment of God.  So I'm afraid it doesn't matter what party has their man or woman in the White House, there are in for a long road if they continue to fight against God.