Then he saw a spider begin to build a web over the front of his cave. As he watched, listening to the enemy searching for him all the while, the spider layered strand after strand of web across the opening of the cave. “Hah,” he thought, “What I need is a brick wall and what the Lord has sent me is a spider web. God does have a sense of humor.” As the enemy drew closer he watched from the darkness of his hideout and could see them searching one cave after another. As they came to his, he got ready to make his last stand. To his amazement, however, after glancing in the direction of his cave, they moved on. Suddenly, he realized that with the spider web over the entrance, his cave looked as if no one had entered for quite a while.

“Lord, forgive me,” prayed the young man. “I had forgotten that in you a spider’s web is stronger than a brick wall.” We all face times of great challenge.

In times of difficulty or danger, we turn to God eagerly.

9.11.01

Origin of the USA

“In God we trust” on our money

Too often we turn away and go back to “business as usual.”

Psalm 20.7-9

Consider Two Lessons for Us:

I.                   A Lesson on Priorities

A.     God First

1.      Sacrifices to God before Battle (Psalm 20.1-6)

Pagans sacrificed to their gods

Faithful Hebrews sacrificed to YHWH and then went to battle

2.       [Polycarp — The bishop of Smyrna was brought before the Roman authorities and told to curse Christ and he would be released. He replied, “Eighty-six years have I served him, and he has done me no wrong: how then can I blaspheme my king who saved me?” The Roman officer replied, “Unless you change your mind, I will have you burnt.” But Polycarp said, “You threaten a fire that burns for an hour, and after a while is quenched; for you are ignorant of the judgment to come and of everlasting punishment reserved for the ungodly. Do what you wish.”

3. Paul – ¹¹ I was chosen to tell that Good News and to be an apostle and a teacher.¹² I am suffering now because I tell the Good News, but I am not ashamed, because I know Jesus, the One in whom I have believed. And I am sure he is able to protect what he has trusted me with until that day. 2 Timothy 1.11-12

4. Us? – Matthew 6:33; 22:37-39; Deuteronomy 6; Leviticus 19; Ecclesiastes 12:13

B.     People (Psalm 20.9)

1. Our King came for PEOPLE – John 3:16; Luke 19:10

2. He Created us in his likeness (Genesis 1:26)

II.                A Lesson on Purpose

A.     The King was to be God’s Representative to the People and the People’s Representative to God (Anointed)

a.      Jesus does that today – Messiah/King

b.      Does Battle for Us

B.     We Are to Be Light in the Dark Places  — God’s Representatives

1. Light of the World (Matthew 5:14-16)

2. Even in the darkness

[Idols – Asia 9′ idol with 38 arms to bring blessings from heavens to the worshipers;

[Animal and human sacrifices among the pagans – even today – jungles of Africa; deserts of Australia (when elderly die, youngest child is sacrificed)

[US has our own darkness – Fed Official – kill a child up to 2 years of age

[Individual areas of darkness

C.     Prodigal Son in Luke 15

1. Went to the Far Country (Decapolis/area with the Gerasenes or Gadarenes)

2. He went with a bad attitude and alone

3. God sent his son to the Far Country, too

a. Heaven to Earth

b. Galilee to Gadarenes (the demon named, “Legion”)

c. He came with the right attitude and accompanied with servants of God – angels at his birth and the 12

4. He came to do the will of God in saving the lost (Luke 19:10) and trusting God (Luke 22:42 – let this cup pas. . . “)

Victory comes for the people of God! Psalm 20:5; 9

On February 19, 1945, Marines landed on the beaches of Iwo Jima, fighting by inches to secure a beachhead. After four days of knock-down-drag-out battle, they finally cleared the southern end of the island, climbed Mount Suribachi, and planted a US flag. The commander wanted a larger presence on Suribachi to encourage the Marines still fighting at the northern end of the island, so he ordered a larger flag raised. It was the raising of that larger flag that Joe Rosenthal caught in a famous photograph honoring the good soldiers who were fighting for victory in the Pacific.

• BEARING THE MARK Joseph Damien was a nineteenth-century missionary who ministered to people with leprosy on the island of Molokai, Hawaii. Those suffering grew to love him and revered the sacrificial life he lived out before them. One morning before Damien was to lead daily worship, he was pouring some hot water into a cup when the water swirled out and fell onto his bare foot. It took him a moment to realize that he had not felt any sensation. Gripped by the sudden fear of what this could mean, he poured more hot water on the same spot. No feeling whatsoever. Damien immediately knew what had happened. As he walked tearfully to deliver his sermon, no one at first noticed the difference in his opening line. He normally began every sermon with, “My fellow believers.” But this morning he began with, “My fellow lepers.”

• Today I can address you in a number of ways – “Fellow believers;” or “Fellow sinners.”

Jesus has made us saints based on our faith in him

Yet, we all struggle with sin

• Marshall Keeble – “If I miss them in Christ I will get them in Adam.”

• From time to time we need to stop and examine our lives – how is my walk with God? What sins are impacting me? How is my walk with my fellow believers?

• THEN, we need to take action – What do I need to do to combat the temptations I am experiencing and be more faithful and fruitful?

• Instruction Manual – The Bible – SLIDE of Crash of one of the World’s Most Expensive Plane — $200M

• WE put a huge priority on our worship services. We think if we do the right acts of worship nothing else matters. Jesus puts a priority on worship that involves harmony with PEOPLE:

John 17.20-21 — ²⁰“I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, ²¹ that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me.

John 13.34-35 – ³⁴ A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. ³⁵ By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.

Conflict Among God’s People Happens:

Two men who lived in a small village got into a terrible dispute that they could not resolve. So they decided to talk to the town sage. The first man went to the sage’s home and told his version of what happened. When he finished, the sage said, “You’re absolutely right.” The next night, the second man called on the sage and told his side of the story. The sage responded, “You’re absolutely right.” Afterward, the sage’s wife scolded her husband. “Those men told you two different stories and you told them they were absolutely right. That’s impossible-they can’t both be absolutely right.” The sage turned to his wife and said, “You’re absolutely right.”

Biblical Examples – Aaron & Miriam; Acts 6; Paul & Barnabas over John Mark . . .

•1.      Be Humble – Matthew 18.3-4

•2.      Follow Procedure <The Instruction Manual>

• a. Private, Face to Face Conversation – 18.15
• i. If he sins against you
• ii. If you sin against him (5.23)
• iii. Go quickly

USA Today had an article on the front page about those who escaped the World Trade Center on September 11. After interviewing over 300 survivors and family members of victims, USA Today concluded that in the South tower those who didn’t delay but ran for safety immediately are the one’s who survived. Those who delayed are the ones who perished. Our spiritual life is much the same, that those who delay and put off a commitment to Jesus Christ or spiritual actions often wait until it’s too late. USA Today also noted that people lived or died in the towers by groups, influenced to stay or go by the people around them. The same is true in our spirituality, that people are often influenced to seek Christ or to reject Christ by those around them.

• iv. Show him his fault

• v. Seek Reconciliation – NOT justification to be angry; NOT winning an argument;

• b. Witnesses (v. 16)
• i. It is easier to involve others before we talk to our brother — Gossip

Harriet, the church gossip and self-appointed supervisor of the church’s morals, kept sticking her nose into other people’s business. Several residents were unappreciative of her activities, but feared her enough to maintain their silence. She made a mistake, however, when she accused George, a new member, of being an alcoholic after she saw his pickup truck parked all afternoon in front of the town’s only bar. She commented to George and others that everyone seeing it there would know that he was an alcoholic. George, a man of few words, stared at her for a moment and then just walked away. He said nothing. Later that evening, George quietly parked his pickup in front of Harriet’s house and left it there all night…

• ii. “What did ___________ say when you talked to him/her?”

• c. Tell the Church (v. 17a) – Get it in the open;

• d. If no reconciliation – Love them as an outsider (v. 17b)

•3.      Remember the Difficulty of Forgiveness – 18.21-22

• a. Rabbis – Forgive three times
• b. Peter – 7
• c. Jesus – 77

•d.      Genesis 4.15; 24 - Forgive with this kind of intensity – Cain & Lamech

•4.      Resist Temptations:

• a. Revenge
• b. Ignore it, it will go away – It usually doesn’t
• c. Distance myself from the person/issue

• Parable of the unmerciful servant (18.23-35) – King forgives large debt and expects us to forgive the lesser ones;

• During WWII, a German soldier plunged into a shell hole. There he found a wounded enemy. The fallen soldier was soaked with blood and only minutes from death. Touched by the plight of the man, the German soldier offered him water.

Through that simple, small kindness a bond was formed. The dying man pointed to his shirt pocket.

The German soldier took from it a wallet and removed some family pictures. He held them so the wounded man could look at his loved ones for the last time. With bullets raging overhead and war all around them, these two enemies were, for a few moments, friends.

WHAT HAPPENED IN THAT SHELL HOLE? Did all evil cease to exist? No. Were all wrongs made right? No. What happened was this: Two enemies saw each other as humans in need of help. And that’s what forgiveness is.

Forgiveness is rising above the war, looking beyond what we are, and choosing to see others, not as enemies or even as friends, BUT AS FELLOW SOLDIERS WANTING TO MAKE IT HOME SAFELY.

• Golden rule/1^st and 2^nd commands cannot be fulfilled if we mistreat one another or harbor grudges

• There has been a lot of hurt over the years – unintentional
• Today – pick up the phone and make an appointment to see someone you need to reconcile with.

• RE Lee – Cut it down and forget it.

• Why are you here today?
  •  Members? Visitors?
  •  Information? ["The scriptures are not given for our information but for our transformation." DL Moody
  •  Relationships – Family circles; Friendships; the possibility of making friends
  •  Wolfgang Dircks was dead for 5 years before anyone knew it. He was divorced, a former tool smith, and disabled. Other residents in his Hamburg neighborhood knew nothing of the 43 year old recluse. Most had not even seen him. Dircks’ landlord went to his apartment after the bank account from which his bills and rent were paid went dry. He was sitting in front of his TV set with his Christmas tree lights flashing. More precisely, his skeleton was in the chair with his TV listings open to December 5, 1993. No one checked on Dircks, perhaps for many reasons. One account said that he had threatened to whip anyone who would ask about him. Apparently his isolation was self-imposed by an unpleasant, angry disposition. He so completely shut himself off from the world that he could die and no one knew or cared.
• If you did not show up for days, who would know or care?

• NT has about 21 “One Another” passages to remind us how to get along with and serve each other.
• We are not made for Isolation – [Lone Ranger – Even the Lone Ranger couldn’t do his job completely alone – Tonto/Silver; We were made for community – Adam and Eve;
• Some Reasons for HG that fit into our acronym of Hospitality; Outreach; Ministry; and Encouragement

#1 – Encouragement

People who are not in a group are twice as likely to die in the next year as those who are in a group. People who have strong social connections, but poor health habits (eating, exercise, smoking, etc.) are just as healthy as those with good health habits but weak social connections.

As John Ortberg says it, “Better to eat Twinkies with friends than to eat broccoli alone.”

One study injected 270 people with a virus that causes the common cold. Those with strong social connections did not get as sick, did not stay sick as long, and produced less mucus than the less connected group. Again, to quote John Ortberg, “This goes to prove that lonely people are snottier than the rest.”

We NEED Encouragement (Hebrews 10.25 – Encourage O/A as you see the day approaching)

The Rule of 6 + 6 – New Members – 6 Friends in 6 Months

We NEED Support – Galatians 6.1-2

¹Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted. ² Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.

AP Headlines on July 13, 2001 : “Circus Contortionist Gets Foot Stuck on Shoulder”

Circus workers are accustomed to seeing the contortionist wrap his body into strange shapes and at first ignored his pleas for help when he told them that he had gotten his right foot stuck on his left shoulder. They thought he was joking.

Berkine, age 21 of Kazakhstan, said that he had not warmed up well and that he found himself in a painful and frightening position as a result. He needed help because he could not move.

Sometimes we need help getting out of situations that we should not have gotten into.

#2 – Ministry

Spiritual Growth takes in and sends out – Philippians 2.12-13

 ¹²Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, ¹³for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.

Philippians 2.4 — ⁴Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.

Hospitality

Outreach

Ministry

Encouragement

All are areas where we can use our spiritual gifts and ALL minister to others

Some years ago there was a shipwreck off the coast of the Pacific Northwest. A crowd of fishermen in a nearby village gathered to watch the ship as it was smashed on the rocks. A lifeboat was sent to the rescue, and after a terrific struggle the rescuers came back with all of the shipwrecked sailors but one. “There was no room in the lifeboat for him, so we told him to stay by the ship and someone would come back for him,” shouted a young man. “Who will come with me?” shouted the young man. Just then a little old lady cried out, “Don’t go. Jim, my boy. Don’t go. You are all I have left. Your father was drowned in the sea; your brother William sailed away and we’ve never heard from him; and now if you are lost, I’ll be left alone. Oh, Jim, please don’t go.” Jim listened patiently to his mother’s pleading, then said, “Mother, I must go! It is my duty. I must go!” The onlookers watched as the men in the lifeboat fought their way toward the wreck. Anxiously Jim’s mother wept and prayed. They saw the boat start back. At last it came close enough to hear, and they shouted, “Did you get him?” And Jim shouted back, “Yes, and tell mother it’s William.”

#3 – Spiritual Growth

Ecclesiastes 4.9-10 ⁹Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. ¹⁰For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up!

Some Learn by Listening – Some learn by Talking

Where do you go for: Hard Questions/Doubts/Fears/Non-traditional thinking?

Proverbs 27.17 — ¹⁷Iron sharpens iron,
   and one man sharpens another.

• We could spend time talking about other benefits of HOME Groups:
• o Prayer
• o Leadership development — Shepherding
• o Being “Family”
• o Where we can apply all of the “one another” passages

• Jesus was the ultimate small group leader (perfect size group – 1 leader and 12 members)
  •  He focused on people – the 12 and those to whom they ministered
  •  He focused on building relationships – with God and People
  •  He focused on perpetuation of the gospel

• Value of People

Although little known in American churches, St. Lawrence has been sculptured, painted and crafted in bronze or stained glass more often than almost any other Saint of the Christian Church. In England alone, more than 250 churches are named for him, as are six in Rome. St. Lawrence was martyred in 258 A.D. But we remember him, not for his martyrdom, but for his being Archdeacon of Rome. His responsibilities included maintaining the sacred vessels of the small, struggling church and distributing alms to the poor. While he was Archdeacon, the Emperor Valerian of Rome took Pope Sixtus captive and demanded, “Where is the treasure of the church?” The Pope would not tell, and they tortured him to death. He never did tell, but in his agony and pain, Pope Sixtus somehow mentioned the name of Archdeacon Lawrence. They took Lawrence captive. “Where is the treasure of the Church?” they demanded, threatening with the same fate that befell the Pope. Lawrence replied, “Emperor, I cannot get it for you instantaneously; but if you give me three days, I will give you the treasure.” The Emperor agreed. Lawrence left. Three days later he walked into the Emperor’s courtyard followed by a great flood of people. The Emperor walked out onto his balcony and said, “Where is the treasure of your church?” Lawrence stepped forward, and pointed to the crowd that accompanied him — the lame, the blind, the deaf, the nobodies of society — and said, “Here are the treasures of the Christian church.”

The prefect was so angry he told Lawrence that he would indeed have his wish to die-but it would be by inches. He had a great gridiron prepared, with coals beneath it, and had Lawrence’s body placed on it. After the martyr had suffered the pain for a long time, the legend concludes, he made his famous cheerful remark, “It is well done. Turn it over and eat it!”