Sermon Central
-
Remember Your Resources
Contributed by David Scudder on Jan 6, 2008 (message contributor)
Summary: It is so easy to be unhappy with who we are. We don’t have to look far before we find people who are better looking, or those who have winning personalities, or those who are smarter or better educated, or those who have more money. We must learn that Go
Remember Your Resources
Purpose: To remind Christians of the great worth they have in Christ.
Aim: I want the listener to rejoice in what God enables us to do and be greatly encouraged to attempt great things for God.
INTRODUCTION: It is so easy to be unhappy with who we are. When we look at other people around us we don’t have to look far before we find people who are better looking than we are, or those who have winning personalities, or many others who are smarter or better educated, or those who have more money, or we may even secretly envy the husband or wife that someone else has.
Even beauty contestants will admit to being self-conscious about some physical feature that they wish were better.
The television, glamor magazines, movies, and romance novels are constantly confronting us with the “perfect” person. The media is always parading people before us who have better jobs, who have more talent, and who seem to live more exciting lives than we do, so that we can be left feeling cheated because of who we are.
This should not be true of a Christian. ✔ Except for our sin, God made us just the way we are. If we are not very careful, we can become guilty of blaming God for what He has done.
✔ Romans 9:20 . . . who are you, O man, who answers back to God? The thing molded will not say to the molder, “Why did you make me like this,” will it? (NAU)
Look at verse 7 of today’s text. An excellent example of a “jar of clay” (i.e. someone who wasn’t very attractive) is Paul because he had many weaknesses.
✔ Paul’s Weaknesses
✔ – Nervousness 1 Corinthians 2:3 I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling, (NAU)
✔ – An unimpressive appearance and a poor speaker 2 Corinthians 10:10 For they say, “His letters are weighty and strong, but his personal presence is unimpressive and his speech contemptible.” (NAU)
✔ – Physical ailments 2 Corinthians 12:7 Because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, for this reason, to keep me from exalting myself, there was given me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment me—to keep me from exalting myself! (NAU)
It’s easy to list the things we wish we had, or wish we were better at, instead let’s take a few minutes and think about what we do have in Christ.
I. What Does God Do for Me?
I may not be rich, famous, talented, good looking, smart, or exciting to be around, but I do have much more than most of the people who are rich, famous, talented, good looking, smart and exciting to be around. What are those things?
A. God loves me
Jesus boldly proclaimed: John 15:9 “Just as the Father has loved Me, I have also loved you; abide in My love. (NAU)
Paul said that this love is beyond description. Ephesians 3:19 to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, . . . . (NAU) God love His own beyond description.
The Bible makes it clear that God’s love for His own is NOT based on anything that makes them attractive to Him. Ephesians 2:4-6 4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), 6 and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, (NAU)
The Bible also makes it clear that this love is reserved ONLY for those who have surrendered their lives to Jesus Christ. John 14:23 Jesus answered and said to him, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our abode with him. (NAU)
B. God owns me
Our human nature cringes at the idea that anyone has to right to tell us what to do, let alone being willing to have someone own us. But, there is great joy and contentment when a Christian understands that God owns him.
✔ Psalm 100:3 Know that the Lord Himself is God; It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves; We are His people and the sheep of His pasture. (NAU)
God’s promise to own is us forever. This is important because God’s love for me would not have much meaning if it could change.
John 10:27-28 27 “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; 28 and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand. (NAU)
