[Faith-talk] Requesting prayer for preaching this Sunday and sharing my transcript

[Ericka]

I love that image of preparing for a trip!

Ericka Short
"What is right is not always popular; what is popular is not always right."

 from my iPhone

> On Feb 4, 2016, at 3:56 AM, Poppa Bear via Faith-talk <faith-talk at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> 
> Hello Faith family, I am hoping that some of you will take some time to pray
> for me over the next few days that I will be able to deliver God's word with
> truth, grace and humility this Sunday. Also pray that hearts would be moved
> and motivated to really live for Jesus and come to find freedom and safety
> in his service. Below is the message that I wrote, if you take the time to
> read then perhaps pray over it as well. I am preaching to a small
> congregation of Alaska natives and have tried to make things as plain as
> possible with small contrasting statements and illustrations that they can
> relate to up here. I had to shave about a thousand words off in order to fit
> the service time, LOL. Blessings
> 
> Genesis 5: 9 through 22 Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people
> of his time, and he walked faithfully with God. Noah had three sons: Shem,
> Ham and Japheth.
> 
> Now the earth was corrupt in God's sight and was full of violence. God saw
> how corrupt the earth had become, for all the people on earth had corrupted
> their ways. So God said to Noah, "I am going to put an end to all people,
> for the earth is filled with violence because of them. I am surely going to
> destroy both them and the earth. So make yourself an ark of cypress wood;
> make rooms in it and coat it with pitch inside and out. This is how you are
> to build it: The ark is to be three hundred cubits long, fifty cubits wide
> and thirty cubits high.  Make a roof for it, leaving below the roof an
> opening one cubit high all around. Put a door in the side of the ark and
> make lower, middle and upper decks. I am going to bring floodwaters on the
> earth to destroy all life under the heavens, every creature that has the
> breath of life in it. Everything on earth will perish. But I will establish
> my covenant with you, and you will enter the ark, you and your sons and your
> wife and your sons' wives with you. You are to bring into the ark two of all
> living creatures, male and female, to keep them alive with you. Two of every
> kind of bird, of every kind of animal and of every kind of creature that
> moves along the ground will come to you to be kept alive. You are to take
> every kind of food that is to be eaten and store it away as food for you and
> for them."
> 
> Noah did everything just as God commanded him. The Lord then said to Noah,
> "Go into the ark, you and your whole family, because I have found you
> righteous in this generation.
> 
> Prayer
> 
> Have you ever had something stole from outside of your home? You just knew
> that you shouldn't have left it outside, but complacency and laziness got
> the better of you and you just continued to leave it out there and then one
> morning you came outside and noticed that it was gone. A shovel, a gas can,
> fishing pole, a tool box in the back of your truck? I remember one time my
> step father had a pair of brand new winter tires in the bed of his truck. I
> had commented to my mom that he didn't want to leave them there, she kind of
> shrugged it off, and she imagined that he knew better, he could manage it,
> but the next day when I talked to her the tires were gone. Those tires cost
> a thousand bucks. It would have taken all of ten minutes to get the tires
> out of the truck and bring them inside. At that rate he would have saved a
> hundred bucks a minute. This is a picture of our attitude towards the Lords
> coming. Often we think, or rather do not think that it is really that
> serious. As Christians we know that He will come back for his church at some
> point, but we for some reason just push that idea towards the back of our
> mind and go on, business as usual, clock in, clock out, another day, another
> dollar. Bills to pay, taxes, birthdays and holidays. I want to challenge
> you; I want to ring the bell, the alarm, I want to say, wake up. We need to
> wake up. As I heard a preacher say recently, the Titanic has already struck
> the iceberg, the world is already sinking. Now it's a matter of who will
> make it into the life boats. If you have watched the movie the titanic you
> may recall that as the boat is sinking, some on the ship just continue to do
> what they were doing. The orchestra carries on with their songs, dancers
> continue dancing and the people at the bar continue to get drunk. That is a
> picture of what is going on today. It is the same picture of life when Noah
> was building the ark and the flood came. People were drinking, marrying and
> being given in marriage. They saw Noah building this massif structure, I am
> sure that he was the talk of many nations, I am sure that people traveled
> hundreds of miles to see him, this wild eyed crazy old man hammering on this
> boat and preaching this message of repentance. I mean, he was gathering
> together an entire zoo as well; it must have been like a modern day
> amusement park. Over the hundred years that it took him to complete the ark
> he may have even employed laborers to help build the ark, men who put their
> own sweat, time and energy into help build this mammoth boat. But still when
> the first drops of rain started falling how many entered into the safety of
> the ark? The bible says that there was only 8 in all that entered the ark
> when that door shut. Now this is what it will be like when the Lord comes
> and takes his church. See the titanic is the world, and there is a giant
> gaping hole in it and it is sinking, but the life boat is Gods ark which is
> a picture of Christ and whoever enters into it by faith will be saved. Here
> is something that I thought was interesting, the ark as big and imposing as
> it was had only one door, God told him to just put one door. That is against
> every fire code in the book, but no not God's plan, He says Noah, just one
> door to go in and out of. What God, how can I get thousands of animals in
> one door? I'll work it out Noah, you just trust and obey. You see, God only
> needs one door. What did Jesus tell his disciples and the people about
> doors? He said in John 10:9 that "I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he
> will be saved," There is only one door to enter into his safety, He said in
> John, that he was the way, the truth and the life, not a way, but the way.
> So in the ark we have the same thing, one door to enter into safety. People
> will be playing their Xbox, browsing their face book, getting ready to go
> out to a ball game and then, 1 Cor CH 15 says that in a moment, a twinkling
> of an eye that we and those who have had their earthly bodies laid in the
> grave will be taken up to heaven with Him. The bible said that Noah was
> righteous, not perfect, but he was righteous. Just like Abraham wasn't
> perfect, but by living by faith in Gods promises and commandments, living by
> faith they walked as God's friends. 
> 
> I know that it is very hard to walk with God in this day and age. Everywhere
> we look we see the Devils hand at work. You turn on the TV and even the
> commercials are pushing sin, let alone the actual movies. It is so easy to
> just go with the flow, relax, and loosen up. But we're not called to just go
> with the flow; we're called to be vigilant, Even when the world says come
> on, come with us, look at everyone else their doing it, we dig in our hills
> and set are faces towards the cross, towards the thrown of God. We don't go
> with the flow, we are like the Salmon, and we fight to go up stream even
> when the current is going the opposite way. When the world says sit down, we
> stand up for Christ. When the world bows down to idols we bow down to the
> living God. When the world says take as much as you can get, we give as much
> as we can for the sake of the Cross and a love for others. You see, we are
> different now, when you come to Christ a change takes place, we become a new
> creation in Christ, all old things have passed away, and behold, and all
> things are new. We don't do what we did when we were living unsaved lives.
> Friends and family may try and get you to do what you used to do, but we
> crucify the old man. The old ways are gone, we walk in newness of life now,
> 1 Peter 4:3 through 5  in the Living Bible says, You have had enough in the
> past of the evil things the godless enjoy, sexual sin, lust, getting drunk,
> wild parties, drinking bouts, and the worship of idols, and other terrible
> sins. Of course, your former friends will be very surprised when you don't
> eagerly join them anymore in the wicked things they do, and they will laugh
> at you in contempt and scorn. But just remember that they must face the
> Judge of all, living and dead. They will laugh at you. Yes, they may laugh
> at you but friends, Jesus says, blessed are you when they persecute you for
> righteousness because you will see the kingdom of God. I don't know about
> you, but I want to see the kingdom of God, I want to be a citizen of that
> kingdom. Some people save for years to go to New York City, visit the statue
> of liberty and eat at the famous restaurants in grinige village, some people
> dream about going to Paris, the city of lights, fashion, perfumes, they
> dream about gazing on the iafole tower, listening to the French accents. But
> I want to see the Kingdom of God; I want to hear the voices of thousands
> upon thousands singing praise to the Lamb. I want to cast my crown across
> the Chrystal floor of the throne room at the feet of Jesus. I want to look
> in my Saviors face, kiss his nail scarred hands. That is where I want to
> take a trip to. And you know what? Just like when you plan for a vacation,
> you start to imagine what it will be like, you tell your friends all about
> it and you pack your bags, that is what I'm doing, I'm telling people about
> it, I'm reading the brochure, the Bible, I'm packing my Spiritual bags and
> I'm ready to blast off like a rocket when that Trumpet calls me home to
> Glory.  Let me ask you something? Does a thief make an announcement ten
> minutes before He makes off with the snow blower in the middle of the night,
> does he come and bang on the door and say, by the way I was just passing by
> and I am going to slip your weed whacker in my trunk, thanks? No! He doesn't
> do that. Jesus isn't going to say, "Hello earthlings I am going to take all
> my children home today at 3 o'clock don't forget to pack a lunch. He has
> been telling the world that he was coming back for the last 2 thousand
> years. The thief comes when everyone is a sleep, when people are distracted
> and comfortable and unconcerned about anything. But Christ says, be on
> watch, the apostle Paul says wake up sleeper. Are you watching, waiting?
> Right now the water is rising, the titanic is slowly sinking, what are you
> going to do? Is there any excitement or anticipation of the Lords return
> that bubbles up in your heart when you think about the rapture? The apostle
> Paul, who spent much of his ministry in prison, on the run or being
> persecuted said this,  that to live is Christ, but to die is gain, to live
> and walk with the Spirit of God is great, but to die and walk in glory, see
> the Master face to face, now that's hitting the jackpot! If the bible
> describes the Lord and his life, death, his acts of compassion, thoughts
> about religion, sin and love, his sacrifice for us in such forceful and
> enduring words and you have no desire to open the Bible up or hear it being
> preached on a consistent basses, then you might have to ask your self do you
> really even want him to return?  if you claim to be a new creation who has
> been crucified with Christ, redeemed by his blood, sealed and marked by His
> Holy Spirit, get your head out of the world's toilet bowl, stop playing in
> the pig pen and acting like his death on the cross was on the same level as
> some movie on the hallmark channel that made you tear up. That is a sad
> reality. I once heard a story about an older woman. Her family invited her
> out to a secular movie and she said no thanks she would pass on it. Her son
> and law asked her why she didn't want to go and she said because if the Lord
> decided to come back for his Church that she just didn't want to be watching
> a movie like that. Wow! What if that mind set was in all of God's children.
> I am not saying that all secular movies are bad, but I am saying that most
> of the time that we never give anything like that a thought. In Revelations
> 3:15'16Jesus says, "I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I
> could wish you were cold or hot. So then, because you are lukewarm, and
> neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of my mouth. Does that seem
> harsh? He said it. You know why? He gave everything on that cross, he left
> the magnificent Glory of heaven, the worship of angels, his kingdom  to come
> down to this ball of dirt, be spit on, beaten, whipped to the point that he
> was not even recognizable as a man and then say, "Father forgive them for
> they know not what they do. Then he threw off the chains of death to show us
> that he was the giver of life, then he promised us eternal life, gives us
> his holy Spirit, gives us a bible that thousands of people have given their
> blood by being burned at the stake, crucified, flung into lion pits for
> entertainment, hunted down like dogs, all so that we can have his word, his
> promises, warnings, examples of love. We have that heritage of faith and we
> want to be Luke warm? Are you watching, waiting hoping? The water is rising.
> are you lounging around, feet up tossing potato chips in your mouth, popping
> open another soda pop, channel surfing wondering why life feels like it has
> no meaning? Don't keep wondering, there is no purpose in that life, at that
> point you're like a zombie, you're moving, breathing, but you're really
> dead. Without Christ and the new birth, the bible says that you're what?
> You're dead in your trespasses and sin. If the son doesn't give you life,
> the life that you get in his name then you have no life. Jesus said that you
> can only serve one master. He didn't say that either you're the boss or I'm
> the boss, it's either the devil or God. Who's your master, who are you
> serving? You don't have to justify yourself to me, you don't have to defend
> your spiritual life to me, open up Gods word, dust off your bible and find
> out. 
> 
> This isn't a guilt session, this is an intervention on the behalf of your
> soul, you could walk out this door and for some reason never see another sun
> rise again. In the time that I have preached this message hundreds of people
> in this world just stepped into eternity and guess what, most of them
> probably planned it when they stepped out of bed this morning. The water is
> rising, which boat are you on, who is the captain of your ship?
> 
> Closing prayer and invitation
> 
> 
> 
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