Sermon Notes: "I Will Be Happy When..."

The title above was the question posed by our pastor in the beginning of his sermon today. The sermon was based on Matthew 5:1-12,  also known as "The Sermon on the Mount" and "The Beatitudes".  You probably remember them starting out as "blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven..."  and so on and so forth...

How would you answer the question, "I will be happy when..."?  Some people might answer with things like, "when I can retire...", "When I can pay off these debts...", When I grow up and can do what I want...", "When I can get out on my own"... "When I can buy a new house, or car, or whatever we think we need..." 

The "Beatitudes" listed in verses 1-11 all start out with "Blessed are...".  Some versions say "Happy are" instead of "Blessed".   "Happy are the poor in spirit?"..."Happy are those that mourn?"....
"Happy are the meek?" "Happy are those that hunger and thirst?"  "Happy are the merciful?"   "Happy are the pure in heart?"   "Happy are the peacemakers?"  "Happy are the persecuted?"

I wonder how many of us would have filled in the blank on the original question,

• "I will be happy when..."  with, 
• "when I am poor in spirit, 
• or when I am mourning, 
• or when I am meek, 
• or when I am hungry and thirsty, 
• or merciful, 
• pure in heart, 
• a peacemaker, 
• or when I am persecuted???" 

It is kind of an upside down way of looking at our own "set of rules".  We think the blessed or happy are the rich, the strong, the winners, those who get their hunger and thirst fed at the best restaurants in town, etc.,  and not the other way around. 

But Jesus said that we are blessed when we are poor in spirit, because ours will be the kingdom of heaven...

The word "poor" in the Greek translates to "abject poverty".  True poverty is a cruel thing. Those who live in poverty long for a bit of kindness. They crave a bit of dignity. 

The poor in spirit bring nothing in their hands that God needs...

• they come in their brokenness hoping to be mended
• they come in their sin hoping to be forgiven
• they come in their grief hoping to be comforted
• they come in their illness hoping to be healed

We try hard not to be poor in spirit.  We try desperately to be in control all our lives.

Our best efforts, however, leave us exhausted.  We are so desperate to do it our way that we are exhausted.

We are used to demanding what we want and expecting to get it.

There was a wealthy man whose son lay dying in an emergency room of the hospital, badly injured. He pleaded with the doctor, saying, "I will pay for the very best doctors, hospitals, surgeons, specialists, whatever it takes, wherever we have to go to save my son."

The doctor sadly said to the distraught father, "Your money can't buy anything here. All you can do now is wait and pray."   Sometimes we are brought to that place of desperation before we realize that all we can do is wait on God and pray.  When we come to that place of being "poor in spirit", then we are blessed as we realize the true kingdom of God surrounding us and in us.

“Henri Nouwen once asked Mother Teresa for spiritual direction. 'Spend one hour each day in adoration of your Lord, she said, and never do anything you know is wrong. Follow this and you'll be fine.'”

"When our need is the greatest, there is where we'll find our blessing from God."

So now I ask myself and you to answer that question, "I will be happy when..."   And the answer is: When I realize that coming to that place of utter dependence upon God is where I will find true blessing and happiness and peace.  

Sermon Notes: FUMC, Interlachen, FL, Pastor John Bennett, 02/02/2020

Please Note : I want to repeat this disclaimer here...the notes, outline, and content included here are based upon my own personal understanding of the message that was being given. I am not attempting to completely quote or reproduce this message or any other message I've shared previously. Just as each person reading these notes may glean insights and thoughts that seem to directly apply to one's own situation and interpretation, my own delivery of these messages is skewed by my hearing and translation of what is being said. Some may read my notes here and wonder if they were hearing the same message as I...and I say, God speaks to each of us as He wills...there are things He is trying to get across to each individual that may be entirely different than what the person sitting next to you in the pew is needing to hear... That is how the Holy Spirit works! He knows what we need to hear and how to apply it to our hearts. So it is with that understanding that I present these sermon notes to you.

Sermon Notes-God Leading Us

We were surprised to arrive at church yesterday and find out that our pastor was not feeling well (and we are praying for him to get well soon!) and one of the laymen of the church was going to preach.  We are still kind of new to this church, so we really didn't know what to expect...but God had a pleasant surprise for us.  I think one of the tests of whether or not a church is living up to its name and truly teaching the Word of God to the people is whether or not a pastor can call in sick and know that the church will still carry on, the Word will be taught and preached, the prayers will still be prayed, and the people will still come away knowing they have been in the house of the Lord.

And that is exactly what happened yesterday! Everything ran like clockwork...(actually, we got finished a little bit early...but that was okay, because we had a pot-luck dinner waiting in the fellowship hall)...We were well-fed yesterday...Food for the soul by the delivery of God's Word, partaking of the Lord's Supper, and then food for the body to send us homeward with a full tummy as well.

So now, let me share what we heard from God's servant yesterday...

The Scripture was from John 15:1-8 

1.  " I AM the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser....

2. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; 

and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit.

3.  You are already clean because of the word which have spoken to you.

4.  Abide in Me, and I in you. 

As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine,

neither can you, unless you abide in Me.

5.  I Am the vine,

you are the branches.

He who abides in Me, and I in him, 

bears much fruit;

for without Me you can do nothing.

6.  If anyone does not abide in Me,

he is cast out as a branch and is withered;

and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned.

7.  If you abide in Me,

and My words abide in you, 

you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you.

8. By this My Father is glorified,

that you bear much fruit;

so you will be My disciples."

Now for the message:

There are four distinct ways that God leads us ...within His will...

1.  By Decrees:  Not by our design, but by God's way.

In Job 42:1-2 Job answered the Lord and said:

"I know that You can do everything, and that no purpose of Yours can be withheld from You..."

In life we often come to a fork in the road...and we can go God's way or our way.  If we continue taking our way, we will come to a fork in a road again...God gives us a choice...If we keep making our own choice and going our own way, God will keep giving us more choices until we find the right way and follow God's way...

In Acts 16:20-34, we have the story of Paul and Silas being thrown into prison...and at midnight they were singing and praying...and the prisoners were listening to them...and when the earthquake came and the doors of the prison were opened, the prisoners did not flee as the keeper of the prison expected...and he realized that these men had a faith that he wanted, so he asked them in verse 30,

"Sirs, what must I do to be saved?"  And they responded in verse 31:

"Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household"...

And that jailer made the choice at that moment to believe...he and all of his household...

He could have chosen to do away with himself because he knew he would be severely punished if the prisoners escaped...but God had a better plan for this jailer's life...and he chose to believe God and be saved...

2. By Direction:  God gives us commands and teachings in the Bible.  

Exodus 20:1-17 contains the Ten Commandments...what we should not do.

Matthew 5:1-12...The Sermon on the Mount: Gives us directions of what we should do. How we should live..."Love your enemies" , John 15 teaches us to Abide in Christ,  and in the Epistles God reveals His directions for how we should live as Christians in the world.  God's Word is filled with stories for everyone and every circumstance in life.

3.  By Discernment:  Detecting how we find God's leading us through the Holy Spirit...

Romans 12:2 "And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God."

The Holy Spirit shapes the mind through prayer and the Word of God.  When we accept Jesus Christ as our Savior we are filled with God's Holy Spirit...and He will teach us what is right and wrong...God guides us through the Holy Spirit working in our hearts and lives.

4.  Declaration:  God declares to us what we should do...Acts 8:26 Philip is told by the angel to "arise and go"...

If you trust in God, He will give you a message...He'll let you know which way to go, and what is the right way or the wrong way. 

We can rest in the  declarations of God.  Romans 8:28 tells us:

"And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, 

to those who are the called according to His purpose."

Philippians 3:12-16 tells us to press on toward the goal...for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus...

The Apostle Paul's goal was to know Christ, and to be like Him...and to make Him known.

We are to lay aside those things that will keep us from being a committed Christian...

Practice the way God wants us to be...

Read our Bible, Pray, Meditate on God's Word...

God has a plan for everyone...He leads us in different ways...but we must be OPEN to God's leading...be WILLING to accept His directions...

A closing thought:

God will get you there one way or another...might as well go peacefully!!

Read your Bible, lean on God and learn of Him...

We are here to serve Him and to do His work here on earth...

We closed the service with the hymn:

"When We All Get to Heaven...what a day of rejoicing that will be...when we all see Jesus, we'll sing and shout the victory!!"

Yes, that will definitely be a day of rejoicing...

I hope you have already made the choice to accept God's free gift of salvation through Jesus Christ.

If not, there is no time like the present!!

Sermon Notes from FUMC, Interlachen, FL, Lay Pastor message...