Otterbein United Methodist Church

May 4, 2008 Key Verse: “Now may the Lord of peace himself

Scripture: Mark 11:19-24 give you peace at all times (always) and in all

Sermon: “Always All Ways” ways.” 2 Thessalonians 3:16

Start: Sing the chorus – “The Lord Is My Shepherd.”

“The Lord is my Shepherd; I’ll live for Him always.

He leads me by still waters; I’ll live for him always.”

Refrain: “Always, always, I’ll live for him always.” (Repeat).

Today’s Scripture: Mark 11:19-24

Introduction… They can hit you from any direction at any time. You name an activity, any activity, and if I’ve done that activity, I’ve likely had a sermon idea hit me while I was doing it! The inspiration for today’s message came 11 days ago while I was leading the Early Education Children in our weekly sing-a-long.

(Our Early Education Center was Re-Accredited! Notification came this week! Celebrate!)

Back to the story… we were singing the chorus “The Lord Is My Shepherd” and as we hit the refrain, I realized the way I was saying they word to the refrain was not “always” but “all ways.” Something lit up inside me as I realized, “Yes, I want to live for him ‘always’ as in for the rest of my life and eternity too, but I want to live for him ‘all ways’ – that is ‘in every way.’”

In our walk with God, the answer to the “when” question is “always;” the answer to the “in what areas or ways” is “All Ways!”

It’s part of the very nature of God! Our God is not only Always God (as in eternal) but he is God in All Ways… He’s not just the god of the sun, or the god of the moon, or the god of spring, or the god of animals… he is the creator of all those things!

God’s Word introduces the concept of the Lord as our shepherd in Psalm 23. It uses the concept of “always” when it says, “And I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever” (6). (Me? When we have guests I’m ready to have them leave in about 3 days! God says we get to stay in his place forever)!

I have always been fascinated by the language used in Psalm 24:3 and Psalm 15:1. Both these verses ask a question and both are followed by the answer.

Psalm 24:3 asks, “Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord?”

Psalm 15:1 asks, “Who shall abide in thy holy hill?”

Did you grab the distinction? The first question has to do with going into the Lord’s presence. The second question has to do with living there.

Too much of our lives are spent in the “coming and going.” We’re in his presence. We’re out of it. We’re in it, we’re out of it. In! Out! In! Out! We have little or no sense of what it takes to stay there.

Psalm 15 offers these five things essential to our staying there. Our…

1. Walk (vs. 2). Needs to be upright. In other words we need to live blamelessly. Can others point a finger at you and say, “Look at that, and you call yourself a Christian.” Some people bail out right here, finding it easier to say, “I’m not sure I believe in God” than to line themselves up with the with God’s design.

2. Works (vs. 2). They need to be righteous. Are you a doer of the word or a hearer only? (James…). We need to be about doing for others, not just living for ourselves.

3. Words (vs. 2-3). We need to “speak truth” from the heart. (See also Ephesians 4:15, 25). We need to be sure we aren’t slandering or hurting others with our words.

4. Ways (4). Honor those who fear the Lord. Keep our promises even when it hurts us! (Faithful even in little things).

5. Wealth (5). They aren’t looking to get ahead at the expense of others, rather they use their resources to bless others!

Those who are going to dwell in God’s presence know there isn’t anything in life that he doesn’t care about!

Did you ever talk to a tree? Jesus did! In Mark 11:14 Jesus spoke to a fig tree that had no figs. “May no one ever eat fruit from you again.” The next day Jesus and his followers walk by that tree again. It was withered from the roots up. Peter, rather surprised at the rate of this tree’s decay, pointed it out to Jesus.

Jesus used this time as a teaching time for his disciples. All the translations on my shelf say he responded by saying, “Have faith in God.” But that’s not what the Greek says. Literally it says, “Have the faith of God.” Then Jesus tells them not only about talking to trees, but talking to mountains! “Whoever says to this mountain, ‘Go throw yourself into the sea,’ and doesn’t doubt, it will be done.”

Then in Mark 16:17 after his resurrection, Jesus tells his disciples, “These signs will follow those who believe…” Then he lists supernatural signs, including speaking in other tongues and healing the sick. There is a limit to that, for the implication is not just that these signs will follow Christians (believers) in general, but that these signs will follow those who believe these signs will follow them! That is, having “the faith of God!”

Many of you saw the movie Forest Gump with Tom Hanks. There are some great lines in there, like “Momma said, ‘Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know which one you’ll get.’”

While serving in Vietnam, Forest develops a friendship with a man named “Bubba.” Bubba has aspirations of one day owning a shrimping boat. Consider this clip… Bubba is speaking, “Anyway, like I was sayin', shrimp is the fruit of the sea. You can barbecue it, boil it, broil it, bake it, saute it. Dey's uh, shrimp-kabobs, shrimp creole, shrimp gumbo. Pan fried, deep fried, stir-fried. There's pineapple shrimp, lemon shrimp, coconut shrimp, pepper shrimp, shrimp soup, shrimp stew, shrimp salad, shrimp and potatoes, shrimp burger, shrimp sandwich. That- that's about it.”

What thing does every part of that list have in common with every other part? Shrimp! Regardless of the other things added, Shrimp is the common denominator. As much as I love shrimp, there’s little wonder I’d show you that clip!

But consider… Jesus is Lord of life while I sleep, while I shower, and while I shave; He is Lord of life when I’m selecting my clothes, and putting them on. He is Lord of life while I talk to the kids, drink my orange juice, and read the morning paper. Jesus is Lord of life while I’m driving to work, while I’m on the job, while I’m talking to others. Jesus is Lord of life while I’m taxiing the kids, while I’m cheering them at the game, and while I’m applauding at the concert. Jesus is Lord of life when I’m trying to figure out which bills are the most pressing and whether I should consider another job. Jesus is Lord of life when I’m talking to my spouse, planning our Mother’s Day Schedule, and discussing this year’s vacation…

This is just the start, but I think you get the picture. So what’s the common denominator here?

It’s Jesus being Lord of all the parts of my life!

In John 14:6 Jesus says, “I am the way…” When I don’t know which way to go, His way is “always” and “in all ways” “the way!”

Jesus is Lord of life always; and he wants to be Lord of our lives in all ways. Many of us don’t believe (or if we do believe don’t live we believe that) Jesus has much to say about the details of life.

Yet even a quick read of scripture indicates he wants to be intimately connected to every part of our lives. We are to submit to God in ALL ways… spiritually, physically, emotionally, mentally, culturally, socially, financially, and every other “…al-ly!” He is Lord of all, and we need to submit to him in all things.

Always in All Ways! The Lord holds out solutions and direction to my life even when I stubbornly refuse to acknowledge them!

Today’s PowerPoint background is a magnification of the “loops and hooks” of Velcro. 2 Thessalonians 3:16 says “Now may the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times and in every way.” He’s offering the loop for the reduction of our anxiety, stress, and worry. Are we hooking on?

In fact in every area of life, God holds out the loops. Every area! All areas! In All ways he is available. His desire is for me to “hook” on in all ways! Unfortunately, I become content to “hook on” to him only when I can’t do it myself. That’s part of the reason the Lord allows troubles… so I’ll get to the end of myself, and hook on to him!

Take aways… 1.) I need to be in relationship with Jesus; 2.) I need always to have Him in mind; 3.) I need humility to acknowledge need; 4.) I need to hook on in large and small!

What things do you need to bring to Jesus today?