102914: But a Crushed Spirit Who Can Bear?

Message: But a Crushed Spirit Who Can Bear?

I.                    Introduction

a.       This year we want to help you get more rooted in Christ and grow closer together.  One way we are doing that is through these messages, as we look at a question from the Bible. 

b.      I had just moved to Goldendale, leaving what few friends I had behind.  This was our third move in a year and a half.  We moved to a house on box canyon rd. so I had no contact with anyone but my family and a few people at the church my parents were forcing me to go to.  I was 14.  I hated my life.  I hated how I looked, I hated how I felt, I hated that there was no one for me, I hated that God didn’t feel real to me, I hated myself.  I sat in our bathroom and looked over to a cabinet, thinking through the various products in it I knew there was more than enough to put an end to all the pain.  I sat for 10 minutes and finally left for my bedroom.  This continued for several months.  It was the darkest period of my life.  I had become completely enveloped in pain, depression, and didn’t know if I would ever make it out.

II.                 Body.

a.       Read Proverbs 18:14 – “A man’s spirit sustains him in sickness, but a crushed spirit who can bear?”

                                                             a.      My soul was crushed and I couldn’t take it anymore.

                                                            b.      There are many that fall into that category and it ends in death for many.  In fact a suicide is committed in the US every 12.6 minutes, around 41,000 a year.  Among teenagers it is the second most common reason for you dying.  For every successful suicide attempt there are 12 other attempts to harm or kill that take place.  The biggest factor for someone committing suicide: Depression…they have been crushed in their spirit and can no longer take it.

                                                             c.      What kinds of things crush us?

                                                                                i.      The choices I make

a.       At times a person ruins their own life.  They make decisions to get involved in things that are causing them pain. 

b.      Examples: Failing out of school, taking drugs/drinking, etc…

                                                                              ii.      The choices others make

a.       At times others crush us with their actions

b.      Examples: Abuse, rape, divorce, bullying, etc…

                                                                            iii.      The choices nature makes

a.       At times things happen that are no one’s fault

b.      Examples: Death, Loss of job, etc…

                                                            d.      Does anyone want to share a personal story about being crushed?

b.      Baseball

                                                             a.      Baseballs are created to take a certain amount of abuse, they can be hit by a bat over and over again and still maintain their shape and structure.  But eventually that beating takes a toll.  The seams come lose, tears develop, and eventually the whole outside cover falls off.  Once this happens it is only a matter of time until the whole ball is completely unraveled and destroyed.  And there really is very little chance of getting the ball usable again.

                                                            b.      Humans were created with the ability to take a certain amount of hurt.  They can stand strong and be resilient even under terrible pressure.  But over time that beating takes a toll.  At first we can hold it together but then the pain gets to the point that it starts getting deeper and deeper until we are starting to fall apart, eventually becoming unraveled and destroyed. 

                                                             c.      Is there hope of being made better once the pain has gone to the core of us?

c.       My Story Completed

                                                             a.      After months of contemplating suicide I was forced by my parents to go to a Christian summer camp in Canada.  I yelled and screamed and threw a fit to try and force my parents to not make me go.  I wanted nothing to do with God or other people, I just wanted to be done.  I went and at that camp I was met by God.  He was waiting for me.  He reminded me that in him there is hope, that my life had purpose, that I was loved, and that he could give me strength to endure the pain.  He was seeking me out the whole time.  I had been unraveled and was on the verge of being destroyed but he set to work repairing my brokenness as I allowed him into my pain.

                                                            b.      Revelation 21:5 finds God speaking to humanity and he says, “I am making everything new!”  At times you may feel like everything is unraveled and there is no hope.  But God can make everything new!  He can heal, he can bring hope, he can give you strength, he can help by making you new, repairing your brokenness as you allow him into your pain.

                                                             c.      You are not beyond repair!  You can make it if you allow God to carry you and heal you.

III.               Application

a.       Maybe tonight you have been depressed, hurting, and possibly hurting yourself or thinking of committing suicide.  It is not the answer.  Inflicting harm or killing yourself will not remove the pain, only God can.  And he has been seeking you out, he is ready to meet with you right now.

b.      Maybe you want that, maybe you need that, tonight allow him to help you.  Pray with me.  I encourage you to speak to me or another leader tonight.  You don’t have to do this alone, God is here and so are we. 

c.       Pass out #, I’d rather you call at 3am and share your pain, then get a call the next day that you have ended your life.

041614: Who Is It You Are Looking For?

Who Is It You Are Looking For?

I.                    Introduction

a.       Our goal this year is to see you get more rooted in Christ as we grow together

b.      One way we are doing this rooting is through sermons about questions found in the Bible.

c.       Last week we left Jesus in a tomb.  He had been sentenced, beaten, whipped, and crucified…for us, for our sins, so we could have forgiveness.  Then he was wrapped and put in a tomb, a stone rolled in front of, guards placed around it to make sure no one stole the body…but like we said last week, That was Friday…and Sunday was a comin’.

II.                 Body

a.       Read John 19:1-18 – “Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance.  So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!”  So Peter and the other disciple started for the tomb.  Both were running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first.  He bent over and looked in at the strips of linen lying there but did not go in.  Then Simon Peter, who was behind him, arrived and went into the tomb.  He saw the strips of linen lying there, as well as the burial cloth that had been around Jesus’ head.  The cloth was folded up by itself, separate from the linen.  Finally the other disciple who had reached the tomb first, also went inside.  He saw and believed.  (They still did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise form the dead.)  Then the disciples went back to their homes, but Mary stood outside the tomb crying.  As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus’ body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot.  They asked her, “Woman, why are you crying?”  “They have taken my Lord away,” she said, “and I don’t know where they have put him.”  At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus.  “Woman,” he said, “why are you crying?  Who is it you are looking for?”  Thinking he was the gardener, she said, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him.”  Jesus said to her, “Mary.”  She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means Teacher).  Jesus said, “Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet returned to the Father.  Go instead to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am returning to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’”  Mary Magdalene went to the disciples with the news: “I have seen the Lord!”  And she told them that he had said these things to her.”

b.      Review

                                                             a.      Jesus lies in the sealed tomb Friday night, all day Saturday, and then something happens very early on the third day (Sunday).  The book of Matthew tells us that there was an earthquake caused by an angel who rolled back the stone, causing the guards to become like dead men.  Jesus comes back to life, takes the burial cloths off, folding it and placing it were he was placed. 

                                                            b.      This isn’t something that normally happens…yet it did.  Mary Magdelene (a follower of Jesus) goes to the tomb to finish the burial process but finds the stone rolled away and the body gone.  She reports it to the disciples, Peter and John, who run to see what has happened and see he is no longer there and come to believe the story that he has come back to life. 

                                                             c.      Mary is confused and waits there crying, still wondering where the body went, but then someone appears (she assumes it is the gardener/groundskeeper)…he asks her the question of the night.

c.       The question: Who is it that you are looking for?

                                                             a.      She was seeking the dead body of Jesus

                                                            b.      But WHAT SHE SOUGHT WASN’T AS IMPORTANT AS WHAT SHE GOT

                                                             c.      She may have been seeking a dead body but what she got was the risen Lord Jesus…something much more important and far superior to what she had been seeking.

                                                            d.      Others had been looking for Jesus to be a lot of things: A king to throw off the Roman empire, a physical healer, a provider of food, a good speaker, a miracle worker, and in this case a dead body…

                                                             e.      But WHAT THEY SOUGHT WASN’T AS IMPORTANT AS WHAT THEY GOT…a Savior

d.      The importance of the resurrection

                                                             a.      Showed his power over death…for him and for us

                                                            b.      Showed he was everything he claimed to be…God, Savior, Powerful, Able to Forgive Sins, etc…

                                                             c.      Showed we have hope, no matter how dark things may look

                                                            d.      Showed that even when it seems like nothing is happening, God is still at work

III.               Conclusion

a.       If someone were to ask you the question: Who or what is it that you are looking for?  We might find a lot of different answers, from the silly (a dollar, an easter egg, something to eat, etc…) to the series (love, forgiveness, hope, etc…).  

b.      But remember WHAT WE SEEK ISN’T AS IMPORTANT AS WHAT WE GET

c.       We might be seeking a lot of things, but we got a Savior who could bring us forgiveness and hope, a God who can do all things.  And he wants a relationship with you! 

d.      So stop running after a million things, stop running from relationship to relationship, stop seeking out high after high, stop turning to sports and popularity, stop seeking things to relieve your boredom, stop seeking, because Jesus is standing there ready to give you so much more than any of those things ever could.

The Middle #1: 010913

I.                    Themes

a.       Every year I pray and ask God for a theme for our youth group for the year. 

b.      Previous Themes: The complete life, No compromise, It matters, Under the surface, A single drop, Signs, Complicated, Clarity, Markers

c.       This year as I was praying I got the impression that the theme of the year should be, “The middle.”  I was surprised by this and I asked God if maybe he meant, “The center.”  Like we need to be focusing on the center, our relationship with God.  But I was told no, “The middle.”  As I pondered what this mean the first thought that went in my head was that of a baseball game, in which the pitcher would throw the ball down the middle to get a strike, but it was also the point at which the batter had the best chance of hitting the ball for a homerun.  There was risk, but also reward in “the middle.” 

II.                 The Beginning

a.       The beginning is when we get saved.  It is the start of something great.  The beginning is great, there is so much hope and optimism.  We think we can conquer the world.  Our sins are forgiven, our load is lightened, and we are ready to win.  But then we hit the middle.

III.               The Middle

a.       Life is difficult in the middle.  It is a place of danger, hurt, loneliness, grief, and pain.  We often get lost in the middle.  The middle is when we are challenged in our faith, when doubts creep in, when many give up and no longer follow God.  The middle is where bad things happen, where people lose hope.

b.      Yet in the middle, where the greatest risk is, where life may be the worst it can be, that is when the greatest reward is too.  It is in that time when you can grow the most, it is in that time when you can have more faith, it is during that time when you can find the most victory.  But only if we learn to trust, that is the only way we can survive our time in “the middle.”

IV.              Jairus in the Middle

a.       Mark 5: 21-24, 35-36 – “21 When Jesus had again crossed over by boat to the other side of the lake, a large crowd gathered around him while he was by the lake. 22 Then one of the synagogue rulers, named Jairus, came there. Seeing Jesus, he fell at his feet 23 and pleaded earnestly with him, “My little daughter is dying. Please come and put your hands on her so that she will be healed and live.” 24 So Jesus went with him.  A large crowd followed and pressed around him. 

b.      A woman approaches and touches Jesus at this time, which causes her to be healed, but this takes time with Jesus speaking to her.

V.                 Success in the Middle

a.       35 While Jesus was still speaking, some men came from the house of Jairus, the synagogue ruler. “Your daughter is dead,” they said. “Why bother the teacher any more?” 36 Ignoring what they said, Jesus told the synagogue ruler, “Don’t be afraid; just believe.”

b.      In the middle Jairus finds himself with no hope, his daughter is dead.  There is no reason to believe in Jesus any more, there is no reason to trust, there is only despair.  But what does Jesus ask him to do in this situation?  Don’t be afraid, just believe.  He asks for trust, even though there was no real reason to trust.  He asks them to push aside fear, even though that is what they feel.  He goes to the house and raises Jairus’ daughter from the dead.

c.       You see even in the darkness of “the middle” there is light because Jesus is there.  Are you living in “the middle?”  “Don’t be afraid; just believe.”