Redemption Church Plano Texas

Circle Up 4 – A surrounding circle

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Hello Redemption Church! I am sure missing be in the same room with you.

I hope you don’t have corona virus quarantine blues. I am praying for you every
day.

For you that are tuning in for the first time.. Welcome. I am Chris

Fluitt. This is Redemption Church in Plano, Tx.

Everyone please let us know if you have any prayer requests, needs, or

even praise reports.

CONTACT – 469-467-8111  [email protected] facebook.com/myredemption

I want to hear from you – Tell me something you can’t wait to do when we

get past this covid-19 quarantine.

We are in the 4th week of the Circle Up series

Circle up

We need community. We need family. We need friendship. We need intimate

relationships.

Last week we taught you how to draw a circle.

How to draw a circle

You can draw a circle by attaching your circle to a central anchor. We

told you that Jesus is the best anchor for your circle.

A surrounding circle

I can imagine that some people may really resist a message of community.

  • Perhaps you were injured by a community.
    • Perhaps they betrayed your trust.
  • It could be that you think community is
    • a lot of work keeping people happy without really receiving any benefit in
    return.

    Community circles require work on your part, but when done correctly they

    bring blessing, strength, and protection.

    Think about football – The huddle is a circle.  The huddle is an real authentic meeting…

    Plans are formed… because of the huddle the players walk to the line of
    scrimmage with confidence.

    Circle the wagons – When pioneers needed protection they would make their

    wagon train form a circle. It offered protection during uncertain times.

    A surrounding circle is beneficial.

    Proverbs 15:22 (NIV) Plans

    fail for lack of counsel, but with many advisers they succeed. 

    Psalm 133:1 (NIV) A song of

    ascents. Of David. How good and pleasant it is when God’s people live together
    in unity! 

    Psalm 133:3 (NIV) It is as

    if the dew of Hermon were falling on Mount Zion. For there the Lord bestows his
    blessing, even life forevermore. 

    1 John 1:7 (NIV) But if we

    walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another,
    and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin. 

    1 Peter 4:8-10 (NIV) Above

    all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.  Offer hospitality to one another without
    grumbling.  Each of you should use
    whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s
    grace in its various forms. 

    We need each other. We need to circle up. We need to surround each other.

    Church we need to be a surrounding circle.

    Encircle your family, friends, brothers, sisters, community, world…

    Encircle the outcast, the widow, the orphan, those near and far…

    It is good to be surrounded with love and care… But there are times of

    quarantine & isolation.

    Quarantine & Isolation

    It is strange to hear my 4 year old say the words “quarantine, social

    distancing, and corona virus.”

    We are living in a time where we are to stay at home… Avoid contact with

    people… do not gather in groups beyond 10 people and stay more than 6 feet.

    Corona has reminded us that there are times where you feel alone…. “Does

    anyone really care?”  “No one calls me…”

    We are in a time where we are limited… How can we really be there for our

    friends? How can we form a surrounding circle when we aren’t allowed near each
    other?

    What am I going to do?

    I can’t go to work… I can’t get paid…

    I can’t go to the church and pray and hear the choir and experience the

    beauty of the sanctuary.

    I can’t lean on my brother… That’s how you spread Corona.

    I need a surrounding circle… but I look around and no one is there.

    David in Philistia

    Real quick Bible story context…

    • David at a young age had been chosen by
      • God to be the king of Israel.
    • David later kills a giant named
      • Goliath.  Goliath is from an enemy nation
      called Philistia.
    • David the giant killer and chosen of God
      • is hated by the king who at that time sat on the throne of Israel.
    • King Saul, in anger and jealousy, chases
      • David completely out of Israel.
    • David hides from Saul in what
      • country?  David goes to the land of
      Philistia. He goes first to the town of Gath… The hometown of the giant
      Goliath… and here he asks his enemies if he can stay in this area.
    • David lived among his enemies.

      • David was quarantined.  David was

      in isolation.

      Was David still a man of God? Yes!

      Were the promises of God still true?  Did
      God still have purpose for David? Yes!
      Was David still a man after God’s own heart? Yes!

      This was a lonely and difficult season for David. But His season had a

      reason

      Your Season has a Reason.

      I need to tell someone today, your season has a reason.

      Your difficult circumstance does not define you. The promises of God are

      still true. God’s plan for you is not dictated by the storms of life.

      Your season has a reason. Lord reveal the reason for this season.

      So David is in Philistia

      David in Philistia

      He has part of his family with him and he has some men with him… and they

      are living in quarantine & isolation in a small area called Ziklag… and
      then things get worse… While David and his men were away the Amalekites
      attacked Ziklag…

      1

      Samuel 30:1 (NIV) David and his men reached Ziklag on the third day. Now the
      Amalekites had raided the Negev and Ziklag. They had attacked Ziklag and burned
      it, 

      1 Samuel 30:2 (NIV) and had

      taken captive the women and everyone else in it, both young and old. They
      killed none of them, but carried them off as they went on their way. 

      1 Samuel 30:3 (NIV) When

      David and his men reached Ziklag, they found it destroyed by fire and their
      wives and sons and daughters taken captive. 

      1 Samuel 30:4 (NIV) So David

      and his men wept aloud until they had no strength left to weep. 

      1 Samuel 30:6 (NIV)

      David was greatly distressed

      because the men were talking of stoning him; each one was bitter in spirit
      because of his sons and daughters…

      Hold on… This was already a difficult season, but now it is worse.  Can you relate?

      Now David has no one…  His nation of
      Israel has rejected him… His family has been taken… And now his men want to
      kill him.

      Quarantine & Isolation

      You may feel all alone right now. You may feel like no one cares. You may

      feel betrayed. You may feel lonely and cut off… BUT LOOK WHAT DAVID CAN TEACH
      YOU…

      1 Samuel 30:6 (KJV) …but

      David encouraged himself in the LORD his God. 

      In the middle of his quarantine & isolation… when his family was

      gone, when his men wanted to kill him, when he was all alone, David remembered
      that God is a surrounding circle.

      God is a surrounding circle

      When no one is there, God is still there.

      When no one cares, God still cares.

      When everyone turns against you, God is still for you.

      God is a surrounding circle.

      Psalm 34:7 The angel of the LORD encamps around

      those who fear Him, And rescues them.

      Psalm 145:18 The LORD is near to all who call upon Him, To all who call

      upon Him in truth.

      When Jacob was lost in the dessert…

      Deuteronomy 32:10 “He found him in a desert land, And in the howling waste
      of a wilderness; He encircled him, He cared for him, He guarded him as the
      pupil of His eye.

      Psalm 139:5 You have enclosed me behind and before, And laid Your hand

      upon me.

      Psalm 32:7 You are my hiding place; You preserve me from trouble; You surround

      me with songs of deliverance.

      Psalm 125:2 As the mountains surround Jerusalem, So the LORD surrounds

      His people From this time forth and forever.

      Zechariah 2:5 ‘For I,’ declares the LORD, ‘will be a wall of fire around

      her, and I will be the glory in her midst.'”

      Proverbs 18:10 The name of the LORD is a fortified tower; the righteous

      run to it and are safe.

      Psalm 121 I lift up my eyes to the mountains— where does my help come

      from? 2 My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth.

      The Lord will keep you from all harm— he will watch over your life; 8 the Lord

      will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore.

      Psalm 91 Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the

      shadow of the Almighty.    1He who dwells in
      the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty 2 I will
      say of the LORD, “He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I
      trust.”

      Psalm 139 Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your

      presence? 8 If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the
      depths, you are there…

      even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the

      day, for darkness is as light to you.

      Psalm 23 The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.

      2 He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the

      still waters.

      3 He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for

      his name’s sake.

      4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will

      fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.

      5 Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou

      anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.

      6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and

      I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.

      Our God is a surrounding circle!

      David encouraged himself in God!

      Wherever you are I pray that the encouragement of the Lord would

      strengthen you!

      David stood in the middle of a burnt to the ground Ziklag and found encouragement

      in God… and here is what happened next.

      1 Samuel 30:7 (NIV) Then David said to Abiathar the priest, the son of

      Ahimelek, “Bring me the ephod.” Abiathar brought it to him, 

      Bring me an Ephod

      The Ephod is the clothing of a priest. 

      Without digging into all the spiritual significance of the ephod..   When David asked for the Ephod he was asking
      to go into God’s presence… He was asking to go and ask God what he should do
      next… The ephod represents Worship & prayer!  It represents the presence of God surrounding
      you!

      1 Samuel 30:8 (NIV) and

      David inquired of the Lord, “Shall I pursue this raiding party? Will I overtake
      them?” “Pursue them,” he answered. “You will certainly overtake them and
      succeed in the rescue.” 

      God is a surrounding circle! David surrounded himself in God’s presence

      and God told Him what to do and how to be successful.

      In a few moments were are going to be talking to God. You must surround

      yourself in God!  You need to ask God
      what to do and how to be successful.

      So David leaves Ziklag to go after the Amalekites and rescue his family.

      But it was not going to be easy to find the people who taken their family and
      stolen their wealth… these people did not want to be found… So watch what
      happens…

      1 Samuel 30:11 (NIV) They

      found an Egyptian in a field and brought him to David. They gave him water to
      drink and food to eat— 

      1 Samuel 30:13 (NIV) David

      asked him, “Who do you belong to? Where do you come from?” He said, “I am an
      Egyptian, the slave of an Amalekite. My master abandoned me when I became ill
      three days ago. 

      When David in his isolation circled up with God, God led him to someone

      else who was isolated. This slave had become sick and was left to die.

      You who are feeling isolated!  God

      wants to encircle you with His love, strength, and care and he wants to lead
      you to others who are isolated. 

      1 Samuel 30:14 (NIV)

      We raided the Negev of the

      Kerethites, some territory belonging to Judah and the Negev of Caleb. And we
      burned Ziklag.” 

      God brought David to this man to help him… and then David finds out that

      the person God brought him to had the information he needed.

      When you surround yourself in God, every meeting can be a God ordained

      moment!

      The Egyptian leads David to the raiders…

      1 Samuel 30:17 (NIV) David

      fought them from dusk until the evening of the next day, and none of them got
      away, except four hundred young men who rode off on camels and fled. 

      1 Samuel 30:18 (NIV) David

      recovered everything the Amalekites had taken, including his two wives. 

      1 Samuel 30:19 (NIV) Nothing

      was missing: young or old, boy or girl, plunder or anything else they had
      taken. David brought everything back. 

      1 Samuel 30:20 (NIV) He took all the flocks and herds, and his men drove them ahead of the other livestock, saying, “This is David’s plunder.” 

      Quarantine & Isolation

      What started in disaster… quarantine & isolation… and attack and

      betrayal had become a blessing.

      Your Season has a Reason.

      In this season David found he could encourage himself in the Lord!

      In this season David put on an Ephod of Prayer & Praise!

      In this season David helped the Egyptian in need.

      In this season David recovered everything that had been taken and

      received more than had been taken.

      You are not a loser in this season. You are going to win.  You are going to gain.

      IF GOD IS YOUR SURROUNDING CIRCLE

      God is a surrounding circle

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      Redemption Church Plano TexasBy Redemption Church Plano Texas
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