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

Ericka dotwriter1 at gmail.com
Fri Feb 5 17:16:01 UTC 2016


Thanks!

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

 from my iPhone

> On Feb 5, 2016, at 11:07 AM, Poppa Bear via Faith-talk <faith-talk at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> 
> Hello Erica, Thanks for the support and reading it, take care and blessings.
> I will be sending up some prayers for you and yours. 
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Faith-talk [mailto:faith-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Ericka
> via Faith-talk
> Sent: Friday, February 05, 2016 7:40 AM
> To: Faith-talk, for the discussion of faith and religion
> Cc: Ericka
> Subject: Re: [Faith-talk] Requesting prayer for preaching this Sunday and
> sharing my transcript
> 
> 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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