The Challenge for 5-29-22

"The Challenge” has become a common part of my sermons over the past couple of years.  “The Challenge” is intended to help us think about the message of the week and then deciding to act.  Connecting “The Challenge” with journaling has become my attempt at fostering this internal dialogue (hearing then thinking then deciding then acting).  The purpose of “The Challenge” is that we all might act upon what we have heard by the leading of the Holy Spirit.

Our challenges will fall heavily into the category of journaling.  When we write, we have to think then formulate words, then put it to paper.  This process helps us integrate our whole self.  We will also focus upon action.

Here is The Challenge for 5-29-22.

              1.  What is your greatest fear?

              2.  How do you feel about your death?

              3.  Does your faith “mask” fear or overcome it?

              4.  Where have you put your hope?  What do you trust?

              5.  Are you more concerned about living or dying? 

Journals and pens are available at Kenwood for anyone who wants them.  If you are unable to pick them up at the church, I can mail them to you.  Just contact me via email (toddlackie@kenwoodchurch.org) or phone call (248 417-9218).

5-29-22 Kenwood Church Live Stream

MY HOPE IS IN YOU: The Heart Broken by Fear 5-29-22

MY HOPE IS IN YOU: The Heart Broken by Fear 5-29-22

INTRODUCTION

I have never been one to tempt fate.  I have always been an old soul.  I have always been more afraid than excited.  I was never a daredevil.  I had friends that loved danger more than life itself.  I had friends who used to jump off cliffs to ride small trees to the ground.  I had friends who jumped off bridges and cliffs into rivers and streams.  I had friends who could not go fast enough or high enough.  I found other ways to spend my time.  I was not into danger or the adrenaline rush of fear.  I saw safe choices and projectable risks.  I was a little boring to be honest with you.  I did more crazy things as a youth minister than I have ever done outside of ministry.  I’ll save those stories for later.

My son on the other hand.  Caleb likes motorcycles, risking it all, not playing it safe.  I like to learn how to do things “the right way.”  Paula and Caleb love the thrill of doing things they have never done before.  One of the last summers that Caleb spent with my parents in Tennessee when he was in his early teens I got a phone call from my mom.  She was scared and angry and overwhelmed.  Caleb had gone with a bunch of kids and swam across one the large lakes down from my parents house.  Caleb knew no fear; but Nan certainly did.  My mom cannot swim and the idea of her grandson swimming across that water scared her to death.

Caleb called me one day from our house when he was in his early 20’s.  You could hear the terror in his voice.  He was obviously shaken.  I ran home from the church to find my son sitting on our family room couch with a gun sitting on the coffee table.  I knew he had the gun.  The smell of gunpowder told me I didn’t know the story.  When he could finally talk, he told me about how the gun he just loaded and was sitting on the coffee table discharged.  It was a Judge 45 long colt with special self-protection rounds that have discs and pellets and all sorts of other strange projectiles.  As he told the story I looked where he said the bullet went, and sure enough there were several holes in the window trim of my east facing family room window.  The boy with no fear knows fear.

Psalm 39 is another psalm of David.  Scholars believe this psalm was written in response to his son, Absalom’s rebellion.  This time, however, David feels that his life is in such jeopardy that his remaining days may be few. 

“I said, “I will watch my ways and keep my tongue from sin; I will put a muzzle on my mouth while in the presence of the wicked.” So I remained utterly silent, not even saying anything good. But my anguish increased; my heart grew hot within me. While I meditated, the fire burned; then I spoke with my tongue: “Show me, Lord, my life’s end and the number of my days; let me know how fleeting my life is. You have made my days a mere handbreadth; the span of my years is as nothing before you. Everyone is but a breath, even those who seem secure. “Surely everyone goes around like a mere phantom; in vain they rush about, heaping up wealth without knowing whose it will finally be. “But now, Lord, what do I look for? My hope is in you. Save me from all my transgressions; do not make me the scorn of fools. I was silent; I would not open my mouth, for you are the one who has done this. Remove your scourge from me; I am overcome by the blow of your hand. When you rebuke and discipline anyone for their sin, you consume their wealth like a moth— surely everyone is but a breath. “Hear my prayer, Lord, listen to my cry for help; do not be deaf to my weeping. I dwell with you as a foreigner, a stranger, as all my ancestors were. Look away from me, that I may enjoy life again before I depart and am no more.””

                            Psalms 39:1-13 NIV

I.  THE POWER OF FEAR

On Inauguration Day, March 4, 1933, Washington was cold and overcast.

At the Capitol, Franklin Delano Roosevelt braced himself on his son James’s arm as he made his slow way to the rostrum to take the oath of office. Then, as the crowd grew quiet, he opened his inaugural address.

The new president offered hope to a desperate people: “This great nation will endure as it has endured, will revive, and will prosper.”  Roosevelt’s First Inaugural Address includes the famous line— “the only thing we have to fear is fear itself.”

“I am certain that my fellow Americans expect that on my induction into the Presidency I will address them with a candor and a decision which the present situation of our people impel. This is preeminently the time to speak the truth, the whole truth, frankly and boldly. Nor need we shrink from honestly facing conditions in our country today. This great Nation will endure as it has endured, will revive and will prosper. So, first of all, let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself—nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance.”

It’s generally believed that Roosevelt’s political adviser Louis Howe added these words to the speech. But Howe’s source is a mystery. Presidential adviser Raymond Moley claimed Howe saw the line in a 1933 department store advertisement. But a 1931 newspaper article quotes U.S. Chamber of Commerce president Julius Barnes as saying, “In a condition of this kind, the thing to be feared most is fear itself.” FDR speechwriter Samuel Rosenman credited Henry David Thoreau, who once wrote: “Nothing is so much to be feared as fear.”   

“I said, “I will watch my ways and keep my tongue from sin; I will put a muzzle on my mouth while in the presence of the wicked.” So I remained utterly silent, not even saying anything good. But my anguish increased;”

                            Psalms 39:1-2 NIV

A.  His declarations

                            1.  “I will watch my ways and keep my tongue from sin;”

“Likewise, the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark.”

                            James 3:5 NIV

“The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole body, sets the whole course of one’s life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.”

                            James 3:6 NIV

                            2.  “I will put a muzzle on my mouth while in the presence of the wicked.”

The original does not so much mean a bridle to check the tongue, as a muzzle to stop it altogether. David was not quite so wise as our translation would make him; if he had resolved to be very guarded in his speech, it would have been altogether commendable; but when he went so far as to condemn himself to entire silence, "even from good," there must have been at least a little sullenness in his soul. In trying to avoid one fault, he fell into another.

To use the tongue against God is a sin of commission, but not to use it at all involves an evident sin of omission. Commendable virtues may be followed so eagerly that we may fall into vices.

                            The Treasury of David, C.H. Spurgeon on Psalm 39

              B.  His emotions

“The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.”           

                            Edmund Burke

“If anyone, then, knows the good they ought to do and doesn’t do it, it is sin for them.”

                            James 4:17 NIV

II.  THE REALITY OF DEATH

‘I knew a man once who said, “Death smiles at us all.  All a man can do is smile back.”’

              Maximus Decimus Meridius, Gladiator

“Even at our birth, death does but stand aside a little.  And every day he looks towards us and mouses somewhat to himself whether that day or the next he will draw nigh.”

                            English playwright and screenwriter Robert Bolt

“It is possible to provide security against other ills, but as far as death is concerned, we men live in a city without walls.”

                            Epicurus

“Mortals, born of woman, are of few days and full of trouble.”

                            Job 14:1 NIV

“My heart grew hot within me. While I meditated, the fire burned; then I spoke with my tongue: “Show me, Lord, my life’s end and the number of my days; let me know how fleeting my life is. You have made my days a mere handbreadth; the span of my years is as nothing before you. Everyone is but a breath, even those who seem secure.”

                            Psalms 39:3-5 NIV

“Time is not marching on—it is running out!”

                            Anonymous

              A.  “Show me, Lord, my life’s end and the number of my days;”

“Our days may come to seventy years, or eighty, if our strength endures; yet the best of them are but trouble and sorrow, for they quickly pass, and we fly away.”

                            Psalms 90:10 NIV ( the only psalm attributed to Moses)

“Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.”

                            Psalms 90:12 NIV

              B.  “You have made my days a mere handbreadth; the span of my years is as nothing before you.”

              C.  “Everyone is but a breath, even those who seem secure.”

We poor human creatures are constantly being frustrated by limitations imposed upon us from without and within. The days of the years of our lives are few, and swifter than a weaver’s shuttle. Life is a short and fevered rehearsal for a concert we cannot stay to give. Just when we appear to have attained some proficiency we are forced to lay our instruments down.

                            A. W. Tozer in The Knowledge of the Holy

III.  THE HOPE OF THE MORTAL

 “So widespread is fear of death that it is the subject of an academic discipline--the study of death anxiety--producing a substantial amount of literature in the last four decades. Researchers have divided it into various types of fears: fear of pain, fear of the unknown, fear of non-existence and fear of eternal punishment . . .

Religious faith is no guarantor of peace at the end of life. Nitza Rosario, a chaplain with Rainbow Hospice in Park Ridge, recalled a patient who was a pious woman, but in facing death was terrified.

"She was a pillar of her church, but in talking to her, I saw this look of fear in her eyes," Rosario said. "She said, `There are so many religions; how do you know which is the right one?'"

Faith also can mask fear. One study found that some people who say they believe in an afterlife may actually dread there is none. When college students were hypnotized and asked to rate their fears, they expressed greater fear of non-existence than when they were awake.”

                           “Understanding Fear of Death,” Chicago Tribune article by By Barbara Brotman and                                                 Tribune staff reporter on Nov 20, 2006 at 12:00 am

“It’s coming whether you like it or not.  You just have to accept it.”

                            Anonymous

“This life really is all there is.”

                            Sentiment of some believers

“Surely everyone goes around like a mere phantom; in vain they rush about, heaping up wealth without knowing whose it will finally be. “But now, Lord, what do I look for? My hope is in you. Save me from all my transgressions; do not make me the scorn of fools. I was silent; I would not open my mouth, for you are the one who has done this. Remove your scourge from me; I am overcome by the blow of your hand. When you rebuke and discipline anyone for their sin, you consume their wealth like a moth— surely everyone is but a breath.”

                            Psalms 39:6-11 NIV

              A.  The heart bound by time

In the movie Pearl Harbor, American pilot Rafe McCauley travels to England to fly with the Royal Air Force in defense of the embattled island being assaulted by the German aerial blitzkrieg.  Upon arriving at the air base, Rafe sees planes that have been shot to pieces and tells his commander that he needs to get in a plane and get in the air right away.  The shocked commander asks, “Are all Yanks as anxious as you get themselves killed, Pilot Officer?”  McCauley responds, “Not anxious to die, sir.  Just anxious to matter.”

              B.  The heart freed by grace

“My hope is in you.”

                            Psalm 39:7b NIV

“Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?””

                            John 11:25-26 NIV

“When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.” “Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?” The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

                            1 Corinthians 15:54-57 NIV

IV.  THE CHALLENGE

“Hear my prayer, Lord, listen to my cry for help; do not be deaf to my weeping. I dwell with you as a foreigner, a stranger, as all my ancestors were. Look away from me, that I may enjoy life again before I depart and am no more.”

                            Psalms 39:12-13 NIV

“Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.” Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.” As it is, you boast in your arrogant schemes. All such boasting is evil. If anyone, then, knows the good they ought to do and doesn’t do it, it is sin for them.”

                            James 4:13-17 NIV

“This is a challenge that is not governed by the length of our days, but by the depth of our commitment.  Only when we are more concerned with living than we are with dying will we be able to turn live meaningful, victorious, and purposeful lives.”

                            Bill Crowder, My Hope is in You, p. 81.

CONCLUSION

The power of fear, the reality of death, the hope of the mortal, the challenge

CHALLENGE

What will you do with what you have just heard?  How will you respond to the Holy Spirit working within you?  The Challenge is intended to give us an opportunity to contemplate what God is calling us to do in our lives.  Consider these questions and write down your answers. 

              1.  What is your greatest fear?

              2.  How do you feel about your death?

              3.  Does your faith “mask” fear or overcome it?

              4.  Where have you put your hope?  What do you trust?

              5.  Are you more concerned about living or dying?

INVITATION

It is our custom to offer an "invitation" following the preaching of the Word.  You may want to follow Jesus.  You may want to proclaim your faith.  You may want to repent (stop doing ungodly things and start doing Godly things).  Perhaps you want to be baptized for the forgiveness of your sins and receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.  Possibly, if you have already responded to God’s call in these ways, you would like to become a member of Kenwood Church.  If you have been moved by the Holy Spirit to make a decision in your life, you can come forward now.  If you would like, I would be honored to speak with you following the service about what God is doing in your life. 

S.U.M. It Up! 5-25-22

The Challenge for 5-22-22

"The Challenge” has become a common part of my sermons over the past couple of years.  “The Challenge” is intended to help us think about the message of the week and then deciding to act.  Connecting “The Challenge” with journaling has become my attempt at fostering this internal dialogue (hearing then thinking then deciding then acting).  The purpose of “The Challenge” is that we all might act upon what we have heard by the leading of the Holy Spirit.

Our challenges will fall heavily into the category of journaling.  When we write, we have to think then formulate words, then put it to paper.  This process helps us integrate our whole self.  We will also focus upon action.

Here is The Challenge for 5-22-22.

        1.  Today, are you heartbroken by guilt?

2.  Are you carrying a weight of guilt?

3.  How has God chastened you?

4.  Have you found your hiding place in God?

5.  How have you grown in grace?

Journals and pens are available at Kenwood for anyone who wants them.  If you are unable to pick them up at the church, I can mail them to you.  Just contact me via email (toddlackie@kenwoodchurch.org) or phone call (248 417-9218).

5-22-22 Kenwood Church Live Stream

MY HOPE IS IN YOU: The Heart Broken by Guilt 5-22-22

MY HOPE IS IN YOU: The Heart Broken by Guilt 5-22-22

INTRODUCTION

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, writer of the Sherlock Holmes novels, was quite a prankster. One day he played a prank on five of the most prominent men in England. He sent an anonymous note to each man, which simply said, "All is found out. Flee at once." Within 24 hours, all five men had left the country.

Guilt is anger directed at ourselves—at what we did or did not do.

                            Peter McWilliams

Several years ago a new product called "Disposable Guilt Bags" appeared in the supermarkets. It consisted of a set of ten ordinary brown bags on which were printed the following instructions: "Place the bag securely over your mouth, take a deep breath and blow all your guilt out, then dispose of the bag immediately." The amazing thing about this is that the Associated Press reported that 2,500 kits had been quickly sold at $2.50 per kit.

"Guilt upon the conscience, like rust upon iron, both defiles it and consumes it, gnawing and creeping into it, as that does which at last eats out the very heart and substance of the metal."

                            – South

Guilt has the power to teach and the power to destroy as we see in the words of David.  The power of guilt to break a heart can also be the power to heal that once-broken heart.

2 psalms (Psalms 32 and 51) written by David in response to his affair with Bathsheba (see 2 Samuel 11).  We will look at Psalm 32 this morning.

“Blessed is the one whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. Blessed is the one whose sin the Lord does not count against them and in whose spirit is no deceit. When I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. For day and night your hand was heavy on me; my strength was sapped as in the heat of summer. Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity. I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord.” And you forgave the guilt of my sin. Therefore let all the faithful pray to you while you may be found; surely the rising of the mighty waters will not reach them. You are my hiding place; you will protect me from trouble and surround me with songs of deliverance. I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my loving eye on you. Do not be like the horse or the mule, which have no understanding but must be controlled by bit and bridle or they will not come to you. Many are the woes of the wicked, but the Lord’s unfailing love surrounds the one who trusts in him. Rejoice in the Lord and be glad, you righteous; sing, all you who are upright in heart!”

                            Psalms 32:1-11 NIV

I.  LOOKING FOR HAPPINESS

“Blessed is the one whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. Blessed is the one whose sin the Lord does not count against them and in whose spirit is no deceit.”

                            Psalms 32:1-2 NIV

A grumpy old man and his wife . . .

While on a road trip, an elderly couple stopped at a roadside restaurant for lunch. After finishing their meal, they left the restaurant, and resumed their trip. When leaving, the elderly woman unknowingly left her glasses on the table, and she didn't miss them until they had been driving for about forty minutes. By then, to add to the aggravation, they had to travel quite a distance before they could find a place to turn around, in order to return to the restaurant to retrieve her glasses.

All the way back, the elderly husband became the classic grumpy old man. He fussed and complained, and scolded his wife relentlessly during the entire return drive. The more he chided her, the more agitated he became. He just wouldn't let up for a single minute.

To her relief, they finally arrived at the restaurant.

As the woman got out of the car, and hurried inside to retrieve her glasses, the old geezer yelled to her, "While you're in there, you might as well get my hat and the credit card."

              A.  Blessed

                            1.  Spiritual stability

“Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers,”

                            Psalms 1:1 NIV

                            2.  Restoration from spiritual instability

“Whoever conceals their sins does not prosper, but the one who confesses and renounces them finds mercy.”

              Proverbs 28:13 NIV

              B.  Forgiven/covered

                            1.  Forgiven - sin removed

                            2.  Covered - sin concealed from God’s sight

                            3.  New Testament idea of “justification”

“Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,”

                            Romans 5:1 NIV

              C.  Impute

“David says the same thing when he speaks of the blessedness of the one to whom God credits righteousness apart from works: “Blessed are those whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. Blessed is the one whose sin the Lord will never count against them.””

                            Romans 4:6-8 NIV

II.  FEELING THE WEIGHT OF GUILT

Pastor Lee Strobel shares this account:

We were doing a baptism service. We told people before they came up to the platform to be baptized to take a piece of paper, write down a few of the sins they’ve committed, and fold the paper. When they come up to the platform, there was a large wooden cross on the stage. Take that piece of paper, take a pin, and pin it to the cross, because the Bible says our sins are nailed to the cross with Jesus Christ, and fully paid for by his death. Then turn and come to the pastor to be baptized.

I want to read you a letter a woman wrote who was baptized in one of those services. She said:

I remember my fear. In fact, it was the most fear I remember in my life. I wrote as tiny as I could on that piece of paper the word abortion. I was so scared someone would open the paper and read it and find out it was me. I wanted to get up and walk out of the auditorium during the service, the guilt and fear were that strong.

When my turn came, I walked toward the cross, and I pinned the paper there. I was directed to a pastor to be baptized. He looked me straight in the eyes, and I thought for sure that he was going to read this terrible secret I kept from everybody for so long. But instead, I felt like God was telling me, I love you. It’s okay. You’ve been forgiven. I felt so much love for me, a terrible sinner. It’s the first time I ever really felt forgiveness and unconditional love. It was unbelievable, indescribable.

                            Lee Strobel, "Meet the Jesus I Know," Preaching Today tape no. 211

Do you have inside of you a secret sin that you wouldn’t even want to write down on a piece of paper out of fear somebody might open it up and find out? Let me tell you something about the Jesus I know. Not only does he want to adopt you as his child, he wants to lift the weight of guilt off your shoulders.

III.  THE EXTENT OF GOD’S CHASTENING

“When I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. For day and night your hand was heavy on me; my strength was sapped as in the heat of summer.”

                            Psalms 32:3-4 NIV

                            A.  The hand of God upon us

““But if you fail to do this, you will be sinning against the Lord; and you may be sure that your sin will find you out.”

                            Numbers 32:23 NIV

 “Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life.”

                            Galatians 6:7-8 NIV

                            B.  The effect of the hand of God

“So then, when you come together, it is not the Lord’s Supper you eat, for when you are eating, some of you go ahead with your own private suppers. As a result, one person remains hungry and another gets drunk. Don’t you have homes to eat and drink in? Or do you despise the church of God by humiliating those who have nothing? What shall I say to you? Shall I praise you? Certainly not in this matter! For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.” For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes. So then, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord. Everyone ought to examine themselves before they eat of the bread and drink from the cup. For those who eat and drink without discerning the body of Christ eat and drink judgment on themselves. That is why many among you are weak and sick, and a number of you have fallen asleep. But if we were more discerning with regard to ourselves, we would not come under such judgment. Nevertheless, when we are judged in this way by the Lord, we are being disciplined so that we will not be finally condemned with the world. So then, my brothers and sisters, when you gather to eat, you should all eat together. Anyone who is hungry should eat something at home, so that when you meet together it may not result in judgment. And when I come I will give further directions.”

                            1 Corinthians 11:20-34 NIV

“Don’t you have homes to eat and drink in? Or do you despise the church of God by humiliating those who have nothing? What shall I say to you? Shall I praise you? Certainly not in this matter!”

                            1 Corinthians 11:22 NIV

“That is why many among you are weak and sick, and a number of you have fallen asleep.”

                            1 Corinthians 11:30 NIV

IV.  THE EXTENT OF DAVID’S RESPONSE

“Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity. I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord.” And you forgave the guilt of my sin.”

                            Psalms 32:5 NIV

“I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you.”

                            Luke 15:18 NIV

“as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.”

                            Psalms 103:12 NIV

“It Is Well” by HG Spafford

My sin, oh the bliss of this glorious thought

My sin, not in part, but the whole

Is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more

Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul

V.  EMBRACING GOD’S PROTECTION

“Therefore let all the faithful pray to you while you may be found; surely the rising of the mighty waters will not reach them. You are my hiding place; you will protect me from trouble and surround me with songs of deliverance.”

                            Psalms 32:6-7 NIV

              A.  “A flood of great waters”

              B.  A “hiding place”

“Jesus Lover of My Soul” by Charles Wesley

Jesus, lover of my soul,

let me to thy bosom fly,

while the nearer waters roll,

while the tempest still is high;

hide me, O my Savior, hide,

till the storm of life is past;

safe into the haven guide,

O receive my soul at last!

VI.  GROWING IN GRACE

“But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever! Amen.”

                            2 Peter 3:18 NIV

              A.  The principle of instruction

“I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my loving eye on you.”

                            Psalms 32:8 NIV

“I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.”

                            John 10:10b NIV

              B.  The principle of submission

““Who are you, Lord?” Saul asked. “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,” he replied.”

                            Acts 9:5 NIV

“And he said, “Who are You, Lord?” Then the Lord said, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. It is hard for you to kick against the goads.””

                            Acts 9:5 NKJV

“Do not be like the horse or the mule, which have no understanding but must be controlled by bit and bridle or they will not come to you.”

                            Psalms 32:9 NIV

“And have you completely forgotten this word of encouragement that addresses you as a father addresses his son? It says, “My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you, because the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and he chastens everyone he accepts as his son.” Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as his children. For what children are not disciplined by their father?”

                            Hebrews 12:5-7 NIV

              C.  The principle of faith

                            1.  Trust in the midst of the difficulty of life

“Many are the woes of the wicked, but the Lord’s unfailing love surrounds the one who trusts in him.”

                            Psalms 32:10 NIV

“Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim anything for ourselves, but our competence comes from God.”

                            2 Corinthians 3:5 NIV

                            2.  Joy in the midst of the difficulty of life

“Rejoice in the Lord and be glad, you righteous; sing, all you who are upright in heart!”

                            Psalms 32:11 NIV

“I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.”

                            John 15:11 NIV

CONCLUSION

Looking for happiness, feeling the weight of guilt, the extent of God’s chastening, the extent of David’s response, embracing God’s protection, growing in grace. 

CHALLENGE

What will you do with what you have just heard?  How will you respond to the Holy Spirit working within you?  The Challenge is intended to give us an opportunity to contemplate what God is calling us to do in our lives.  Consider these questions and write down your answers. 

              1.  Today, are you heartbroken by guilt?

              2.  Are you carrying a weight of guilt?

              3.  How has God chastened you?

              4.  Have you found your hiding place in God?

              5.  How have you grown in grace?

INVITATION

It is our custom to offer an "invitation" following the preaching of the Word.  You may want to follow Jesus.  You may want to proclaim your faith.  You may want to repent (stop doing ungodly things and start doing Godly things).  Perhaps you want to be baptized for the forgiveness of your sins and creceive the gift of the Holy Spirit.  Possibly, if you have already responded to God’s call in these ways, you would like to become a member of Kenwood Church.  If you have been moved by the Holy Spirit to make a decision in your life, you can come forward now.  If you would like, I would be honored to speak with you following the service about what God is doing in your life.