Sermon for October 19, 2014 BMZ Church Series: ALL IN For Message: I Kings 19:21; Philippians 3:13-14; Matthew 11:12; Luke 19:1-10 Message Title: ALL IN: Burn the Ships! Introduction: How we doing, BMZ?!? Glad you are with us today as we CONTINUE our WORSHIP SERIES called: ALL IN! The idea is that most of us DON T really TRUST GOD. We SAY we do but TALK is CHEAP! What is FAITH in JESUS, REALLY?!? We have a LOT of PEOPLE who CLAIM to be FOLLOWERS of JESUS that SIT in PEWS AND THAT S IT! They think CHRISTIANITY is about being SAFE and COMFORTABLE and GETTING what I WANT! My preferences should be TAKEN CARE of! We play into the THOUGHT that CHRISTIANITY and RELIGIOUS STUFF is for PANSIES / WIMPS People who CAN T HANDLE LIFE on their OWN! Do you know WHY people THINK THAT?!? Because, too often, that s EXACTLY WHO WE ARE! We ARE PANSIES and WIMPS who think that if I just GO to CHURCH, GOD will take care of me and I WON T HAVE to take ANY RISKS in LIFE! In the movie Braveheart there is a great line when William Wallace is in prison and about to be executed. The princess is concerned because William is about to die. His response is: Every man dies. Not every man really lives. BUT, We THINK that the PLAN is to get to our DEATH BED as SAFELY as possible NOT REALLY LIVE! I really want to get to my death bed and say, THAT WAS AWESOME! If I could do it again, I d do it the SAME WAY! Now, what we are going to do today is talk about HOW to get on the ROAD to AWESOME (Kid President)! Let me start with this IF we are GOING to GO ALL IN, at SOME POINT we have to take a RISK! We have to DO SOMETHING where WE DON T KNOW HOW it s going to TURN OUT WE KNOW that GOD WANTS it DONE and GOD WANTS ME to DO IT BUT, I DON T KNOW WHAT S GOING TO HAPPEN! I have to TRUST GOD with WHATEVER it is It s kind of like this: (Show SKYDIVING VIDEO NOW). If we are going to go ALL IN, at some point we have to JUMP!! There is The Point of No Return There s NO TURNING BACK! When SKYDIVING, once you JUMP, there is NO getting BACK into the PLANE! If you have your Bible with you, turn with me to I Kings 19 if you don t; no worries. All of our Scriptures for today will be up on the screen and much of what we are doing is in your program. If you don t own a Bible and would like one, please stop by Java Jct/Blessed Bean and someone will get you set up with your own Bible. Speaking of which If you haven t already, I invite you to take out your message notes and merge card... On one side you will see our Scripture for today and on the other you will find a brief outline walking us through our Scripture. You will see that there are blanks to fill in Please take the time to do so. Grab a pen and write down whatever else you think is important to you and your faith journey. After worship, drop off your MERGE CARD and take your notes home and refrigerate them. Please Re-read the Scripture and the notes to keep growing and learning. For those of you watching on-line, you can hit the button for notes and for MERGE CARD and stick with us. If you are watching/listening later, or IPODing; you can download the outline off of our website so you too can take notes. Let s pray and then we will press on with where we are going today LET S PRAY (turn off marked lights during prayer)!
2 There is a legend that when Hernan Cortez set sail for Mexico back in 1519 that he had as part of his convoy: 11 ships, 13 horses, 110 sailors and 533 soldiers. The indigenous population of Mexico at that time was approximately 5 million. In other words, the odds were stacked against Cortez by a ratio of 7,541 to 1. That s pretty bad odds. Before Cortez, two previous expeditions had failed to establish a settlement in the New World. Cortez, on the other hand, conquered much of the South American continent. Why?!? Legend has it that when they landed, Cortez ordered the men to make sure this was an All or Nothing / NO Chance for RETREAT Mission. He commanded the men to BURN THE SHIPS! CORTEZ stayed in MEXICO / The NEW SPAIN and defeated the AZTEC EMPIRE THERE for the King of Spain. The ONLY WAY that happened is that the MEN serving under CORTEZ realized that there was NO PLAN B! They had JUMPED and there was NO GOING BACK! I. No Plan B Mark Batterson argues that 9 times out of 10 that FAILURE is RESORTING to PLAN B when PLAN A gets too DIFFICULT too COSTLY too TIME CONSUMING TOO HARD! People are LIVING PLAN B because they DIDN T BURN the SHIPS!! They had an OUT and they TOOK IT! AND, they will have many REGRETS when they get to their DEATH BED PLAN A people DON T have a PLAN B! They would rather FAIL MISERABLY PURSUING GOD S DREAM for THEM than to SUCCEED at anything ELSE Part of this LIFE / FAITH STRATEGY is that at SOME POINT, we have to BURN the SHIPS of our PAST LIFE! We have to TRUST the GOOD NEWS of JESUS where JESUS SAYS that He cares WAY MORE about our FUTURE than our PAST! Jesus already HUNG on a CROSS to take care of our PASTS! That means that we need to BURN the SHIPS of our past FAILURES SUCCESSES (Because often times our successes prevent us from moving into something NEW and RISKY) We BURN the SHIPS of our BAD HABITS our BAD DECISIONS We BURN the SHIPS of our GUILT / SHAME / REGRETS IN order to DO what GOD DREAMS for US, we have to BURN the SHIP of our OLD WAY OF LIFE! What does that mean for YOU?!? Listen, as we FIGURE out how to GO ALL IN with our FAITH in GOD, we NOT ONLY have to MOVE INTO the FUTURE we need to ELIMINATE the POSSIBILITY of GOING BACK to our PASTS HOW?!? II. Make a Statement! My suggestion is that we MAKE A STATEMENT! Make a BOLD MOVE AWAY from your PAST and INTO your FUTURE of REALLY TRUSTING GOD! Now, I m not sure what that is for you, but it has to be KNOWN / ACCOUNTABLE to OTHER PEOPLE family, friends, co-workers YOU HAVE to be ACCOUNTABLE to SOMEONE, or you will TOO EASILY fall BACK to your COMFORT ZONE! Maybe GOD is CALLING you to BREAK a BAD HABIT. Well, TELL SOMEONE that you are going to BREAK that HABIT! Like when I was a TEENAGER and knew that I had to QUIT SWEARING KEITH kept me ACCOUNTABLE with his FISTS!! Tell STORY!?
3 I ve had friends who KNEW they needed to QUIT SMOKING; so they took all of their CIGARETTES to a PUBLIC PLACE, a PASTOR S OFFICE or a FRIEND S HOUSE and either FLUSHED, TOSSED or BURNED them as a STATEMENT I m NOT GOING to EVER SMOKE AGAIN! Now, of course you can SWEAR when that person isn t around or you can buy more smokes BUT, WITHOUT a STATEMENT, there ISN T MUCH CHANCE of a CHANGE!! Let me give you a couple of OTHER EXAMPLES of STATEMENTS from our BIBLES The 1 st Biblical Character I want to bring up today that BURNED the SHIPS, JUMPED and had NO PLAN B was ELISHA. There s this GREAT STORY in I KINGS about ELISHA deciding to FOLLOW the PROPHET ELIJAH Here s the setup ELIJAH was a GREAT PROPHET in ISRAEL and GOD TOLD ELIJAH that he needed to appoint HIS SUCCESSOR the NEXT GREAT PROPHET of Israel. God tells Elijah to BLESS ELISHA, son of SHAPHAT (not important just wanted to say SHAPHAT anyone here pregnant and looking for a boy s name??). ELIJAH goes and finds ELISHA helping PLOW FIELDS for his FATHER. It says that ELISHA was one of TWELVE teams of OXEN in SHAPHAT S FIELDS. Elijah throws his CLOAK over ELISHA S SHOULDERS and INVITES him to come with him an APPRENTICESHIP! Elisha says that he has to go and say GOODBYE to his FAMILY first, and then he will FOLLOW ELIJAH. Here is where ELISHA makes a BOLD STATEMENT of FAITH to his FAMILY. It says that ELISHA does this I Kings 19:21 = 21 So Elisha returned to his oxen and slaughtered them. He used the wood from the plow to build a fire to roast their flesh. He passed around the meat to the townspeople, and they all ate. Then he went with Elijah as his assistant. 1 III. Elisha Burned and Ate Plan B Please DON T MISS what ALL HAPPENED in that ONE VERSE ELISHA, CHOSE to go ALL IN with his FAITH by CHOOSING to FOLLOW the Prophet of God, ELIJAH! AND, Elisha made a STATEMENT! First, let me back up a bit and cover the fact that ELISHA S FATHER, SHAPHAT, had TWELVE (12) OXEN TEAMS to PLOW his FIELDS. In those days, most FAMILY FARMS had ONE (1) OXEN TEAM. That would mean that ELISHA S FAMILY was WEALTHY! AND, my guess is that ELISHA was in line to INHERIT that FAMILY BUSINESS and FORTUNE In order for ELISHA to follow his GOD-SIZED DREAM GOD S CALLING on his life, and FOLLOW ELIJAH; Elisha had to say GOODBYE, not only to his FAMILY, but to his FAMILY S FORTUNE! Elisha DIDN T just QUIT his JOB! He JUMPED! NO GOING BACK! Now, Elisha could have just said, HEY MOM / DAD, I m going to FOLLOW ELIJAH for AWHILE BUT, INSTEAD, he made sure that he JUMPED! He BURNED the SHIPS of his INHERITANCE and the FAMILY BUSINESS! I m pretty sure that SHAPHAT was NOT exactly HAPPY that ELIJAH DESTROYED his DAD S PROPERTY ELISHA didn t just say GOODBYE he made a STATEMENT! He didn t just BURN the SHIPS, he BURNED the PLOW / YOKE and then he BURNED the OXEN! Not only did he BURN the OXEN; he ATE his PLAN B!! He GOT RID of IT! And then later on in the week, that OXEN passed through ELISHA S BODY and HE GOT RID OF IT!! GET IT?!? 1 Tyndale House Publishers. (2007). Holy Bible: New Living Translation (3rd ed., 1 Ki 19:21). Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers.
4 ELISHA made a STATEMENT by BURNING UP HIS PLANS for the FUTURE and FOLLOWING GOD S PLANS for the FUTURE! There was NO PLAN B for ELISHA! BTW ELISHA went on to become the NEW GREATEST PROPHET in ISRAEL. It is recorded that ELISHA had 28 KNOWN MIRACLES to his CREDIT TWICE that of ELIJAH! BUT, it wouldn t have happened if he hadn t BURNED the SHIPS or the OXEN! The 2 nd Biblical Character for today that BURNED the SHIPS, JUMPED and had NO PLAN B was ZACCHAEUS! Now, before I get into ZACCHAEUS STORY the REASON I m telling TWO STORIES from our BIBLES about MAKING a STATEMENT and GOING ALL IN is that I hope that YOU and YOUR LIFE will RESONATE with ONE or BOTH STORIES Here we go As we PICK UP the STORY, JESUS is HEADED to JERUSALEM for his FINAL DAYS and HE KNOWS that. He has LEFT GALILEE he has PACKED his COFFIN and headed SOUTH (MAP)! On his way he goes through the City of JERICHO. Here s what happens: Luke 19:1-2 = Jesus entered Jericho and made his way through the town. 2 There was a man there named Zacchaeus. He was the chief tax collector in the region, and he had become very rich. 2 STOP! Now, we know that ZACCHAEUS was a WEE little MAN and a WEE little MAN was HE; BUT, he was also VERY RICH! PROBLEM: HOW he got RICH! Zacchaeus was the CHIEF TAX COLLECTOR in a BORDER TOWN (Jericho) and a town where a ROMAN GARRISON WAS meaning that the TAXES in JERICHO were HIGHER than OTHER PLACES. That would make Zacchaeus a RICH TAX COLLECTOR! WAIT there s MORE Not only was Zacchaeus a TAX COLLECTOR in a HIGH TAX CITY; he was the CHIEF TAX COLLECTOR in the WHOLE REGION! That meant that he had MULTIPLE TAX COLLECTORS working FOR HIM! SO, he would have right to a PERCENTAGE of their TAX TAKE as well Listen, ZACCHAEUS was REALLY RICH!! Then, JESUS COMES TO TOWN! And, Zacchaeus wanted to SEE JESUS he was LOOKING for JESUS! Here we go: Luke 19:3-4 = 3 He tried to get a look at Jesus, but he was too short to see over the crowd. 4 So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree beside the road, for Jesus was going to pass that way. 3 STOP AGAIN! Now, because many of us learned the SONG, this part does NOT SURPRISE us. But, it SHOULD! Remembering the CULTURE that Zacchaeus was part of, what HE DID in order to SEE JESUS was pretty INCREDIBLE! In that MIDDLE EASTERN CULTURE, MEN did NOT RUN it would be UNDIGNIFIED for a man to RUN; ESPECIALLY, a man of ZACCHAEUS MEANS and OFFICE RICH and POWERFUL HIGH-RANKING GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS did NOT RUN! But, Zacchaeus wanted to SEE JESUS so bad that it was worth GIVING UP his DIGNITY! Not only did Zacchaeus ACT like a LITTLE BOY by RUNNING he then CLIMBED a TREE in order to see JESUS!! Zacchaeus was acting CHILDISH Remember Dr. LUKE recorded JESUS SAYING THIS: Luke 18:17 = 17 I tell you the truth, anyone who doesn t receive the Kingdom of God like a child will never enter it. 4 I think that ZACCHAEUS was well on his way to RECEIVING the KINGDOM of GOD! BUT WAIT it gets BETTER! Luke 19:5 = 5 When Jesus came by, he looked up at Zacchaeus and called him by name. Zacchaeus! he said. Quick, come down! I must be a guest in your home today. 5 2 Tyndale House Publishers. (2007). Holy Bible: New Living Translation (3rd ed., Lk 19:1 2). Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers. 3 Tyndale House Publishers. (2007). Holy Bible: New Living Translation (3rd ed., Lk 19:3 4). Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers. 4 Tyndale House Publishers. (2007). Holy Bible: New Living Translation (3rd ed., Lk 18:17). Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers. 5 Tyndale House Publishers. (2007). Holy Bible: New Living Translation (3rd ed., Lk 19:5). Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers.
5 AND, Jesus gets a little PUSHY! HE pretty much INVITES HIMSELF OVER to Zach s house! Remember in Revelation it says that JESUS STANDS at the DOOR AND KNOCKS this is the example! It s up to us to ALLOW HIM IN to our HOUSES / HEARTS! WHICH, Zacchaeus is THRILLED ABOUT JESUS coming over! It says Luke 19:6-7 = 6 Zacchaeus quickly climbed down and took Jesus to his house in great excitement and joy. 7 But the people were displeased. He has gone to be the guest of a notorious sinner, they grumbled. 6 Isn t it amazing how WHENEVER someone MEETS JESUS and is EXCITED about it, there is always someone in our lives who wants to RAIN on that PARADE! When we give our lives to CHRIST, I try to tell people all the time that they should brace themselves someone will tell them that it s NOT REAL or it COULDN T BE happening for THEM they are TOO BAD, have TOO MUCH in their PAST, NOT GOOD ENOUGH or SOMETHING to REALLY BE CONNECTED in RELATIONSHIP with JESUS! BUT, the PEOPLE were DISPLEASED. I wonder how many times Jesus wanted to SAY to those people WHO CARES if YOU ARE DISPLEASED?!? Someone just went from DEATH to LIFE! If YOU RE DISPLEASED with SOMEONE S LIFE being TRANSFORMED by JESUS and now they have ETERNITY SECURED in GOD S PRESENCE and their LIFE HERE on THIS PLANET is going to HAVE INCREDIBLE PURPOSE and JOY THAT S YOUR PROBLEM, DISPLEASED PEOPLE, NOT THEIRS!! Anyway, here s how ZACCHAEUS RESPONDS to his NEW LIFE Luke 19:8 = 8 Meanwhile, Zacchaeus stood before the Lord and said, I will give half my wealth to the poor, Lord, and if I have cheated people on their taxes, I will give them back four times as much! 7 Did you catch what ZACCHAEUS DID?? He GAVE AWAY his PLAN B! IV. Zacchaeus Gave Away Plan B ZACCHAEUS NEW PLAN A was to FOLLOW JESUS! And at this point, it s ZACH S ONLY PLAN! He stopped with the WEALTH WILL BRING ME HAPPINESS PLAN and went on to an ETERNAL PLAN! Please don t get this BACKWARDS ZACCHAEUS made that STATEMENT in his FAITH in RESPONSE to what JESUS did in his HEART! ZACH didn t EARN ANYTHING by giving away his MONEY. HE did that as a RESPONSE to JESUS CHANGING his HEART! Listen, we don t know how GOD had worked in ZACH S HEART for him to be ready for this MEETING with JESUS. We don t know if he and MATTHEW (Former Tax Collector turned Disciple) were friends. We don t know who was PRAYING for ZACH. We don t know if ZACCHAEUS was finally TIRED of WEALTH and all the TROUBLES that come with it and was HOPING there was SOMETHING BETTER in LIFE. What we DO KNOW Jesus will FIND PEOPLE who are SINNERS that are looking for a NEW START in LIFE! SO, is that YOU TODAY?!? Are you looking at YOUR LIFE and wondering, ISN T THERE SOMETHING MORE?!? Are you asking QUESTIONS about WHAT S NEXT WHAT comes AFTER THIS LIFE?! Jesus will meet up with us right about there! Jesus will STAND at the DOOR of our HEARTS and ASK if you want HIM to FILL the VOID in your LIFE. Maybe even RIGHT NOW. If that is us if we ve decided that we WANT MORE out of LIFE There are a couple of things that we have to do. #1 = OUT with the OLD! 6 Tyndale House Publishers. (2007). Holy Bible: New Living Translation (3rd ed., Lk 19:6 7). Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers. 7 Tyndale House Publishers. (2007). Holy Bible: New Living Translation (3rd ed., Lk 19:8). Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers.
6 V. Out With the Old One of our struggles with faith is actually addressed by EINSTEIN He says that the definition of INSANITY is: Insanity: Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. One of our biggest struggles is that we want GOD to DO something NEW in our LIVES while we KEEP DOING what we ve ALWAYS DONE! We want GOD to CHANGE our LIFE CIRCUMSTANCES WITHOUT US making ANY CHANGES. Most of us get STUCK in our SPIRITUAL LIVES because we keep doing the SAME THING and expect DIFFERENT RESULTS! That s INSANE! Listen What GOT YOU where you are NOW is PROBABLY NOT going to GET YOU where GOD wants you NEXT! Our GOD is a DYNAMIC GOD He is not a GOD of the PAST. God is the GREAT I AM NOT the GREAT I WAS! IF we hang on so tight to what GOD ALREADY DID, we might MISS OUT on what GOD wants to DO NEXT! Andy Stanley says that When our MEMORIES EXCEED our DREAMS, the END is NEAR! In other words, at some point in our lives, we START LIVING off of our MEMORIES more than our DREAMS for the FUTURE! That s the place, when it comes to our FAITH, that we are IN TROUBLE! VI. In With the New (Press On) Those are the days when we STOP LIVING and START DYING! And, when it comes to FAITH; that pertains to our LIVES as INDIVIDUALS and in our LIFE as a CHURCH the BODY of CHRIST! As CHURCHES we START DYING when we LOOK BACKWARDS more than we LOOK FORWARDS! Paul CHALLENGED PEOPLE to LIVE like this Philippians 3:13b-14 = 13 I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, 14 I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us. 8 I love the phrase, PRESS ON! It means: GO FORWARD! HEAD UP! MOVE IT! PLAY OFFENSE and EVEN if you are ON DEFENSE BLITZ!! I m pretty sure that s what Jesus was talking about when he said in Matthew 11:12 = 12 And from the time John the Baptist began preaching until now, the Kingdom of Heaven has been forcefully advancing,* and violent people are attacking it. 9 GET IT?!? If we are going to GO ALL IN and SERVE GOD S KINGDOM in THIS LIFE we CHARGE! Let me ask WHAT MIGHT GOD be ASKING YOU to DO?! Are you PLAYING OFFENSE? Are you PLAYING OFFENSE with the things you ALREADY KNOW to DO?! Are you ATTACKING a BIBLE READING PROGRAM?? Well, I ve never done that before. Why do I have to do it now? Because YOU don t want to be CONSIDERED INSANE! If we want our LIVES to CHANGE, we have to CHANGE our HABITS / LIFESTYLES / ROUTINES DO you have a SPIRITUAL GROWTH PLAN? Are you PLANNING on ATTENDING WORSHIP as much as is POSSIBLE so that you can KEEP GROWING in your FAITH!? Are you BLITZING your MARRIAGE and doing what you KNOW to do as a SPOUSE? Are you BLITZING your FINANCES and being GODLY in that area of your life? Are you BLITZING your JOB and doing it with EXCELLENCE? That s BIBLICAL you know 8 Tyndale House Publishers. (2007). Holy Bible: New Living Translation (3rd ed., Php 3:13 14). Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers. 9 Tyndale House Publishers. (2007). Holy Bible: New Living Translation (3rd ed., Mt 11:12). Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers.
7 Listen, STOP REGRETTING your PAST and PRESS ON! Jesus came so that our JOY would be FULL! He MEANT IT! BUT THAT CAN T HAPPEN as long as we LIVE in the PAST! That s one of the GREAT THINGS about our FAITH The GOOD NEWS = Jesus cares WAY MORE about your FUTURE than your PAST because your PAST was taken care of on a CROSS! Don t WASTE JESUS TIME and EFFORT on the CROSS USE IT for your FORGIVENESS and your FUTURE! It s up to us to do some of the OUT with the OLD and IN with the NEW! CHANGE YOUR ROUTINES and GOD will PARTNER WITH YOU to CHANGE YOUR LIFE! VII. Get Started Again, with all of this, when it comes to FAITH; IT S a JOURNEY! It s a PROCESS. It is not MICROWAVED or done on 4G NETWORKS! We all have to START at the BEGINNING and then be DISCIPLINED to STICK WITH IT, even when it gets HARD! IF you want INSTANT FAITH and CHECK Religion OFF of your LIST of LIFE GOALS CHRISTIANITY is NOT FOR YOU! It s a PROCESS a LIFELONG PROCESS. If we want to have ETERNAL IMPACT in this WORLD, we have to START SOMEWHERE! As MR. MIYAGI (Picture?) says, Long Journey Begins with One Step Get STARTED on that FAITH JOURNEY TODAY! And then YOU NO LOSE A FOCUS! Let s GET STARTED and PRESS ON to be who GOD wants us to BE! NEXT SUNDAY: We are going to start going ALL OUT with our FAITH with some ROCK CLIMBING, some MOMENTS of INSANITY AND COURAGE Be Here! Let s PRAY Together! Next Steps: I will memorize Luke 19:10 I will Pray about What God Wants and Make a Statement! I will be in worship as much as possible through 2014 I will invite someone to worship during the ALL IN Series I Will Start a Bible Reading Program off of www.bmzchurch.org Truth without Grace is Fundamentalism (Brutality). Grace without Truth is Sentimentalism (Hypocrisy). Special thanks to Andy Stanley, Nelson Searcy, R.A. Pegram, Mike Slaughter and Perry Noble for outlines and ideas for this worship series.