Today’s Message (a rough draft)

The Fast that Brings the Blessing

Isaiah 58

  

Introduction

1. Today is an example of the second “P” in our PEP values – (P)eople Experiencing Pentecost.

• I have the sixth in the seven-part I AM series cued up and ready to go; the devotional is based around it…everything is ready to go.
• However, I am going to put that message on hold for today and go in an entirely different way.
• I feel strongly prompted of the Holy Spirit to do so.
• Does this mean that God changed his mind?  Absolutely not.
• It means that God has changed me.
• The Seven Great I AMs of Jesus are still vitally important and they are messages for this House.  However, as I mentioned a few weeks ago, there are a few areas that I feel that I have allowed us to get our attention off of and God is calling me back to them and also requiring that I call us as a church back to them.
• So let me set this today’s message up this way.

1. One of the major themes of this church is that you never come to a service here that you are not blessed by God.  The way we do that is to pronounce over you the Priestly Blessing given in Numbers 6:22-27

1. Today’s message based on Isaiah 58 will combine that blessing with a method for removing any hindrances for you to receive that blessing.

• Isaiah 58 – one of the most comprehensive lists of the blessings of God in the entire Bible.

1. Four Hindrances to receiving God’s blessings:

1)    Ignoring God’s Sabbath

2)    Stirring up strive (speaking “wickedness”)

3)    Exploiting those that you have authority over (putting a yoke on them)

4)    Ignoring the plight of the poor (this gets the most coverage)

Five reasons people ignore the plight of the poor:

(Challenged by a message by Bill Hybels)

1. FIRST: They have never been taught how central this matter is to the heart of God.

• There are over 2000 passages in the bible pertaining to the poor.
• You and I will be held accountable for this!

1. SECOND: They have never seen extreme poverty up close and do not understand its horrors.

• We see the “working poor” and the homeless but…
  •  (“And do not hide yourself from your own flesh”)
  • …there is a difference between the poverty in first-world countries and that in second and third-world countries.

1. ILLUSTRATION: My first mission’s trip (It was not about me)

1. ILLUSTRATION: My second mission’s trip (Donald Anderson / I am blessed)

• When I was introduced to life without the middle class

• The death blow to materialism

1. ILLUSTRATION: My third mission’s trip (Haiti)

• Approximately 80% of the people in Haiti live in extreme poverty

• Every day mothers would come up and ask me to take their children back with me.  (No hope / No open arms outreach / no downtown mission)

1. THIRD: They feel that the issue of poverty is so overwhelming that they say, “Why even try?”

• “Not all of us can do great things, but we can all do small things with great love.” _Mother Teresa
• “If you can’t feed a hundred people, feed just one.” _Mother Teresa

1. Matthew 25:41-46 …

• One of the signs that grace is at work in your life is that you care for the poor and needy.

1. VITAL KEY:  When it comes to the poor and needy – “To do nothing” – is NEVER the answer

1. FOURTH: They heard a bad story about an organization or leader who mishandled the trust placed in them and they became guarded and cynical.

1. ILLUSTRATION: That would be like

• A mechanic messing up your car and you say, “I’m walking everywhere for the rest of my life!”
• Or, a restaurant messes up your meal royally and you declare, “I’ll never eat again!”

1. RE: Money and resources in a poor country – is a powerful temptation and some do indeed stumble – good men and women…

1. VITAL KEY: Why much of our support goes through the COG, i.e. accountability

1. FIFTH: They simply don’t know personally what they can do to make a difference.

What to you can do:

1. FIRST:  Live a Mission’s Lifestyle, i.e. plan to give / leverage your life and resources to best serve the Mission of God.

• 10 / 10 / 80 rule (What you do with the 80% is where you have so many wonderful options.)

• Remember: This is the blessed life!

1. SECOND: Go on short-term mission’s trips (go see / sense the need)

• November 9-12, 2012

1. THIRD: Help me raise the annual budget for the Panama HFC in June.

• We have nine children
• It takes 81 dollars per week to take care of them (that is all the way through High School)
• 9 x 81 = 729.00 per week
• 9 x 81 x 52 = 37,908.00
• 1354.00 per day over the next 28 days
• 271 people figuring out a way to give up 5.00 per day for 28 days (140.00)
• 136 couples (dating, friends or married)
• NOTE: Any money that goes over the amount needed will go toward projects for the HFC.

1. Communion (Let’s not come to the table empty-handed)