Put a hand up
Close Your eyes and repeat after me.
Lord you are welcome in this place.
Now say it like you mean it.
Let's put the bad things from our week at the door to His house
John 4:24 "God Is Spirit and those who worship Him must worship in Spirit and Truth."
WORSHIP
Repeat after me:
This is my Bible
I am what is says I am
I have what it says I have
Today I will be taught the Word of God
I boldly confess
My Mind is alert
My heart is receptive. I will never be the same.
I am about to recieve the incorruptible, Indestructible
ever-living seed of the Word of God
I will never be the same
I'll never be the same
In Jesus Name.
3. "Thou shall not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain."
Ya’ll Come
Isaiah 55:1-55:13
As I was working on this sermon one evening, researching the text and thinking about what this passage was saying to me and what I was to share with you about this particular passage at this particular point in time.
I was watching one of my all-time favorite movies, "Field of Dreams."
In case you’ve never seen the movie, it’s about an Iowa corn farmer who hears a voice, plows up part of his crop to put in a baseball field that allows players from the 1919 White Sox team to come out of what is left of the corn and play on it
He then travels to Boston to pick up Terence Mann a writer (played by James Earl Jones), then to Minnesota, then back home.
So as I’m reflecting on invitations in this passage and in the Bible, the movie had reached the point where Shoeless Joe Jackson was leaving to go back to wherever it was the cornfield led the players.
He stopped, turned, and said, "Hey, you want to come with us?"
Ray Kinsella (the farmer played by Kevin Costner) asks, "You mean it?"
Shoeless Joe says, "No, not you. Him", and points to Terence Mann.
At this point Ray gets upset, asking, "Wait a second. Wait a second. Why him? I built this field, you wouldn’t even be here if it weren’t for me. I want to know what’s out there. I want to see it."
Shoeless Joe just looks at him and says, "But you’re not invited." Which gets Ray even more upset. "Not invited? What do you mean, I’m not invited?" He can’t believe he’s not invited!
Have any of you ever been "NOT INVITED" to an event? Was there ever a time in grade school where a classmate had a birthday party and you were "NOT INVITED"?
Or maybe in High School when someone you thought was your friend has a party and you’re "NOT INVITED"?
It’s probably happened to you. If you’re not part of the "in crowd", you are left on the outside looking in. If you were on the outside, how did that make you feel?
I can tell you from experience that it’s not a good feeling.
Invitations are often very restrictive.
Wedding invitations are given to relatives and close friends;
Celebration dinner invitations are often restricted to top people in business or politics.
God tells us that we are not to worship anyone but Him and we will be rewarded.
Say this with me," I will be rewarded"
But the invitation Isaiah offers in chapter 55 is a universal, non-restrictive invitation.
God, through Isaiah, issues an open invitation to "Ho, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and you that have no money, come, buy and eat!"
Anyone can eat and drink this meal, free of charge.
The only requirement is that they COME.
In that first verse alone, God says, "Come" 3 times!
In one sense, a preacher of the gospel has an unchanged message; each sermon may have a different text, but ultimately the scriptures have but one message.
And that message can be summarized in one word - it’s an invitation from God - it’s the word "Come".
Some of the "Comes" of God’s Word Nu 10:29 Now Moses said to Hobab son of Reuel the Midianite, Moses’ father-in-law, "We are setting out for the place about which the LORD said, `I will give it to you.’ Come with us and we will treat you well, for the LORD has promised good things to Israel."
Isa 1:18 "Come now, let us reason together," says the LORD.
Mt. 9:9 Jesus said to Matthew, "Follow me". There is also the wonderful invitation to come to Him for relief from our burdens and cares.
Mt. 11:28 "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest." First He invites us to come to see and know Him, then to come with Him to win others.
Mark 1:17 And Jesus said to them, "Follow me and I will make you fishers of men."
John 1:39 He said to them, "Come and see". They came and saw where He was staying, and they remained with Him that day. And note His promise to those who do accept His invitation:
John 6:37 "…anyone who comes to me I will never drive away."
And there were personal invitations as well. To Zacchaeus up in the tree He said, "Zacchaeus, hurry and come down; for I must stay at your house today." To his friend Lazarus, dead and bound in a tomb, He cried, "Lazarus, come out!" and not even the grave could prevent the accepting of such a call. There is even a personal invitation to us.
In Rev. 3:20: "Listen! I am standing at the door, knocking; if you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in to you and eat with you, and you with me." Jesus is knocking.
And being polite, he will not "come in" until we open the door and extend an invitation.
He invites us to open the door and invite him in. Even the way we, as believers, follow this biblical teaching. The term we use is "call".
He extends a "call", an invitation, to a pastor, saying, "Come, I call you to be a shepherd."
As your shepherd, I had prepared this message on part three Of the messages on the Ten Commandments but to be honest I did not understand the message at first until I realized what He meant by the third Commandment.
He extends a call to us in the third commandment, in that we are to call in Him in meaning, not in vain.
If we take the Lord's name in vain we lose out because He wants us to call on Him as a father, a friend, as a brother.
This as the third commandment is an invitation not a condemnation. The commandments could be looked at like a glass.
Either half-empty or half full. It's your choice. Mine is half full, soon to be full.
There are many invitations from the Lord in the Bible, with gracious promises to those who come, but note especially the final invitation of the Bible in
Revelation 22:17, "The Spirit and the bride say, "Come."
And let everyone who hears say, "Come."
And let everyone who is thirsty come.
Let everyone who wishes take the water of life as a gift."
It was this kind of announcement that Isaiah made in Babylon some 2,500 years ago.
An open invitation from God, "Come, all you who are thirsty, and you, who have no money, come buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price."
We have looked at invitations we receive in life. We have looked at invitations in the Bible.
And as we gather here on this Sunday, the first day of the week, we are given another invitation; an invitation to "come" to a feast.
This morning, Jesus has set the table and is inviting us, saying, "….Come, for all is now ready."
It is a free feast of Spiritual food! And Jesus has already paid the entire bill. Let ALL who hunger and thirst come to Him and be satisfied.
God issues open invitations.
Unlike those grade school birthday parties, unlike those high school "in-crowd" parties, unlike those restrictive wedding or celebration dinner invitations.
Unlike Shoeless Joe’s invitation to only Terence Mann, these invitations in the Bible are for EVERYONE.
No one is excluded.
Like the giver of the great banquet, God doesn’t care if you’re poor, lame, crippled, or blind.
Rev 1:17 And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. And he laid his
right hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear not; I am the first and the last:
He doesn’t care if you’re black, white, green, tall, or short, young or old, Catholic, Presbyterian, Baptist, or non-denominational like us.
Remember and believe, that when God invites us and says, "Ya’ll come",
He means EVERYBODY!
There is a song that says this, "Isn't it amazing what a prayer can do. When it all seems hopeless, He will pull you through."
Let us go to prayer. Amen?
