The Paradox

Young lady or old hag?

Balcony or patio?

There are a lot of things in this world that don’t make sense or that we don’t fully understand. For instance:

You know that little indestructible black box on airplanes?  Why don't they make the whole plane out of the same material?

If corn oil is made from corn and vegetable oil is made from vegetables, then what is baby oil made from?

Why is the man who invests all your money called a broker?

Why do feet smell and noses run?

What happens if you get scared half to death twice?

IF "Con" is the Opposite of "Pro", then what is the opposite of PROGRESS?

If you choke a Smurf, what color does it turn?

If someone has a mid-life crisis while playing hide and seek, does he automatically lose because he can't find himself?

We also live in a world where heavenly things confuse our earthly minds.

We see unseen things (2 Cor. 4:18)

We conquer by yielding (Rom. 6:16-18)

We find rest under a yoke (Mt. 11:28-30)

We reign by serving (Mark 10:42-44)

We are made great by becoming little (Luke 9:48)

We are exalted by being humble (Mt. 23:12)

We become wise by being fools for Christ’s sake (1 Cor. 1:20, 21)

We are made free by becoming His bond servants (Rom. 6:10)

We wax strong by being weak (2 Cor. 12:10)

We triumph by defeat (2 Cor. 12:7-9)

We find victory by glorying in our infirmities (2 Cor. 12:5)

We live by dying (John 12:24,25; 2 Cor. 4:10,11)

John 12:24-28

Just because things don’t make sense or we don’t fully understand them doesn’t mean we should ignore them.

24 I tell you the truth: unless a grain of wheat is planted in the ground and dies, it remains a solitary seed. But when it is planted, it produces in death a great harvest. (The Voice)

25In the same way, anyone who holds on to life just as it is destroys that life. But if you let it go, reckless in your love, you’ll have it forever, real and eternal. (The Message)

26 “If any of you wants to serve me, then follow me. Then you’ll be where I am, ready to serve at a moment’s notice. The Father will honor and reward anyone who serves me. (The Message)

Brokenness and death come before life.

Soil must be broken to produce a crop, clouds broken to produce rain, seed broken to produce grain, grain broken to produce bread, and bread broken to give life.

Therefore, certain seeds in our lives must be brokenand diebefore we truly liveand can be usedby God.

The Seed of our Personal Desire and Ambition:

Luke 9:62--Jesus said, “No procrastination. No backward looks. you can’t put God’s kingdom off till tomorrow. Seize the day.”

Dwight Moody said that one of the happiest men he ever knew was a man from Dundee, Scotland, who had fallen and broken his back when a boy of fifteen. He had lain on his bed for forty years and could not be moved without a good deal of pain. When Mr. Moody saw him, he asked him, “Doesn’t Satan ever tempt you to doubt God and to think that He is an unfair Master?”

“Oh yes,” he replied, “ he does try to tempt me. I lie here and see my old classmates driving along, and Satan says, ‘if God is so good why has he kept you here all these years? You might have been a rich man. Then I see a young man walk by in perfect health, and Satan, whispers, ‘if God loved you, couldn’t He have kept you from breaking your back?’”

“ And what do you do when you are tempted to feel like that?” Ah I just take him to the cross and I show him Christ, and I point out the wounds in His hands and feet and side, and say, ‘Doesn’t He love me?’

God uses brokenness to draw people closer to Him.

This man’s life was full even though his circumstances left much to be desired.

What difference has a personal relationship with Jesus made in your personal desires or ambitions?

The Seed of our Priorities

Luke 9:62--Jesus said, “No procrastination. No backward looks. you can’t put God’s kingdom off till tomorrow. Seize the day.”

When Joseph Ton was a pastor in Romania he was arrested by the secret police for publishing a sermon calling for the churches to refuse to submit to the communists government’s demand for control over their ministries. When an official told him he must renounce his sermon he replied, “No sir, I won’t do that” The official, surprised that anyone would respond so forcefully to the secret police, said, “Aren’t you aware that I can use force against you?”

“Sir, let me explain that to you,” Ton said. “You see, your supreme weapon is killing. My supreme weapon is dying . . . You know that my sermons are spread all over the country on tapes. When you kill me, I only sprinkle them with my blood. They will speak 10 times louder after that, because everybody will say, ‘That preacher meant it because he sealed it with his blood.’ So go on, sir, kill me. When you kill me, I win the supreme victory.” The secret police released him, knowing his martyrdom would be far more of a problem than his sermon.

How do others see an urgency in your life regarding faith in Jesus and following Him?

The Seed of our Personality

Philippians 2:5-- In other words, adopt the mind-set of Jesus the Anointed. Live with His attitude in your hearts.

John Pounds, a tall muscular teen laborer at the ship docks of Portsmouth England, slipped and plunged from the top of a ship’s mast, pitching headfirst into the deck below. When fellow workers reached him, he was nothing but a mass of broken bones.

For two years he lay in bed as his bones healed crookedly. His pain Never ceased. Out of sheer boredom he began to read his Bible.

After some time, John crawled from his bed a new man. He began to look for something to do in his broken and horribly twisted condition.

A shoemaker hired him to sit at a bench and make shoes. Eventually he made enough money to purchase his own little shop. He began making shoes for crippled children and soon his shop became like a little children’s hospital.

His burden for children grew and it wasn’t long until he began receiving homeless ones, feeding them, teaching them to read, and telling them about the Lord. His shop became know as the Ragged School.

John would limp around the waterfront, food in his pockets, looking for more children to tend. During his lifetime, John Pounds, rescued 500 children from despair. His work became so famous that a Ragged School movement swept England, and a series of laws were passed to establish schools for poor children in John’s honor. Boy’s homes, girls homes, day schools and evening schools were started all over England.

How do your acts of service toward others reflect the selfless attitude of Jesus Christ?

The Seed of our Possessions

Matthew 19:21-- “If you want to give it all you’ve got,” Jesus replied, “go sell your possessions; give everything to the poor. All your wealth will then be in heaven. Then come follow me.”

22 That was the last thing the young man expected to hear. And so, crestfallen, he walked away. He was holding on tight to a lot of things, and he couldn’t bear to let go.

The film Schindler's List chronicled the heroic efforts of a German industrialist named Oskar Schindler. Through his unselfish activities, over a thousand Jews on the trains to Auschwitz were saved.After Schindler found out what was happening at Auschwitz, he began a systematic effort to save as many Jews as he could.

For money, he could buy Jews to work in his factory which was supposed to be a part of the military machine of Germany. On one hand he was buying as many Jews as he could, and on the other hand he was deliberately sabotaging the ammunition producedin his factory. He entered the war as a financially wealthy industrialist; by the end of the war, he was basically financially bankrupt.

When the Germans surrendered, Schindler met with his workers and declared that at midnight they were all free to go. The most emotional scene of the film was when Schindler said good-bye to the financial manager of the plant, a Jew and his good and trusted friend. As he embraced his friend, Schindler sobbed and said, "I could have done more."

He looked at his automobile and asked, "Why did I save this? I could have bought 10 Jews with this.“ Taking another small possession he cried, "This would have saved another one. Why didn't I do more?"

What would this world have lost if there had not been men prepared to forget their personal safety, security, selfish gain and selfish advancement for Christ?

Christmas Evans, a famous evangelist, was always on the move preaching for Christ.

Born on Christmas day 1766

Father died when he was 9. He was then apprenticed out as a farm laborer.

Saved at age 17. He learned to read that same year.

Beat up by former companions for becoming a Christian and thus lost an eye.

Known for great revival preaching and soul-winning in South Wales.

His friends were worried about his health and asked him to take things easier. His answer was always, “It is better to burn out than to rust out.”

When Joan of Ark knew that her enemies were strong and her time was short she prayed to God: “I shalllast a year, use me as you can.”

The world owes everything to people who recklessly spent their strength and gave themselves to God and to others.

No doubt we would live longer if we took it easy and avoided the strain. No doubt we would exist longer---but we would never live.

Jesus tells us our very usefulness - our fruitfulness for God - is tied to our willingness to surrender our lives and possibly even to die for Him. Like Lazarus, die for God’s glory, but unlike Lazarus,not be resurrected for a second tour of duty.

Placed in the position of obeying God when it might cost you your very life, WHAT WOULD YOU CHOOSE?

Some of our hymns talk about going home to heaven. "When the roll is called up yonder..," "When we all get to heaven," etc..

But, if we’re honest, when the time comes to cross the great divide……………

Most of us are not in a big hurry to get there.

Ready or not here I come!

Many of us won’t be ready to leave because...

We’ve grown accustomed to this world.

My friends My Stuff My family

I’ve got

things to

do.

I’ve got places to go

When the Apollo project was beginning, there arose an argument between the engineers and scientist over how to make the best use of the space on board the rocket. The scientists wanted as much space as possible for lab work, the engineers wanted it for back up systems in case something failed. They were at a stalemate until they asked the astronauts.

What do you think they opted for?

Survival!

The Bible gives examples of those who avoided spiritual or physical death for Christ because the price was too high:

1. 10 spies who went into Canaan (we looked like grasshoppers)

2. Rich Young Ruler (sell all that you have)

3. Peter denying knowing Christ (3 times)

They all regretted their decisions.

The Bible also provides amazing examples of people willing to die spiritually and perhaps physically for God:

1. Abraham sacrificing Isaac - "God will provide…"

2. Job - "though He slay me, I will serve Him“

3. Joshua - "Choose you this day whom you will serve...“

4. Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego - "Our God is able to rescue us...but even if...“

5. John the Baptist - "He must increase, and I must decrease"

Each of these people made hard decisions and succeeded where lesser men would have failed.

Jesus: 27My spirit is low and unsettled. How can I ask the Father to save Me from this hour? This hour is the purpose for which I have come into the world. But what I can say is this: 28 “Father, glorify Your name!”

Suddenly a voice echoed from the heavens.

The Father: I have glorified My name. And again I will bring glory in this hour that will resound throughout time.

John shows us Jesus fighting his battle with his human longing to avoid the Cross.

No one wants die at 33; and no one wishes to die upon a cross. There would have been no virtue in Jesus’ obedience to God, if it had come easily and without cost.

In what specific ways does your life bring glory to God?

How does Jesus’ resolve in accomplishing salvation motivate you to live an uncompromising life whatever the cost?

There is the story of a little boy whose sister needed a blood transfusion. The doctor explained that she had the same disease the boy had recovered from 2 years earlier. Her only chance for recovery was a transfusion from someone who had previously conquered the disease. Since the two children had the same rare blood type, the boy was the ideal donor.

"Would you give your blood to Mary?" the doctor asked.

Johnny hesitated. His lower lip started to tremble. Then he smiled and said, "Sure, for mysister."

Soon the two children were wheeled into the hospital room, Mary, pale and thin; Johnny, robust and healthy. Neither spoke, but when their eyes met, Johnny grinned.

As the nurse inserted the needle into his arm, Johnny’s smile faded. He watched the blood flow through the tube.

With the ordeal almost over, his voice, slightly shaky, broke the silence, "Doctor, when do I die?"

Have you calculated the cost of following Christ? Where do you draw the line?

Christ never said it would be easy, but He did promise, “The Father will honor and reward anyone who serves me.” John 12:26.

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Hugh W. Davidson: A summary of the Lord's ministry

Jeff Strite: At The Cross - The Cross & Fruitfulness

Wes Humble: Brokenness: No way around it.

George Dillahunty: Light Up My World

William Barclay Commentaries