God can, and often does, speak to a congregation. He also can and often does, speak to us individually. Sometimes, both of these happen at the same time. God can speak to a packed room, and at the same time, speak to a single person in that room. God is interested in us and our lives on a personal level. The bible has many stories of the Lord passing over and going to great lengths to affect the life of a single person. In Mark 5, Jesus traveled a great distance to find the man possessed by a legion of devils. Many had tried to help him. Some had tried to bind him, but Legion continued to be possessed. Jesus had traveled a great distance, but if we are to get to where He is, we will have to move also. When Jesus stepped off the boat, the possed man ran toward Him. The town people had gotten used to it, but the demoniac was desperate and ran toward Jesus. When the master stepped in, things began to happen for the good. The new year is a time for renewal. The new year is a time for starting fresh. God is has come a great distance to meet us and we must move toward Him.

God can, and often does, speak to a congregation. He also can and often does, speak to us individually. Sometimes, both of these happen at the same time. God can speak to a packed room, and at the same time, speak to a single person in that room. God is interested in us and our lives on a personal level. The bible has many stories of the Lord passing over and going to great lengths to affect the life of a single person. In Mark 5, Jesus traveled a great distance to find the man possessed by a legion of devils. Many had tried to help him. Some had tried to bind him, but Legion continued to be possessed. Jesus had traveled a great distance, but if we are to get to where He is, we will have to move also. When Jesus stepped off the boat, the possed man ran toward Him. The town people had gotten used to it, but the demoniac was desperate and ran toward Jesus. When the master stepped in, things began to happen for the good. The new year is a time for renewal. The new year is a time for starting fresh. God is has come a great distance to meet us and we must move toward Him.

Elvis had a big hit with Blue Christmas. Why during this joyous time of year, does such a song strike a note with so many people. Statistically, the holidays are the most stressful time of year. For many reasons, people feel frustration and anxiousness in life. In all the business and hectic pace of the season, many forget that His birth represents peace on earth and goodwill toward men. Our text tonight offers help to chase away the blues, not only during the holidays but at any time of the year. Bro. Hughes explores multiple translations to draw four things from our text that are guaranteed to chase away the blues.

First, Paul says: Do not worry about anything. He was saying to not allow life to drive us to distraction. Life can get so intense that we become so distressed that we cannot think clearly. Paul tells us to remain focused on what truly matters. God has promised that He will take care of us. That is easy to say, but he also gives the way to do thatwith the second thing: pray about everything. We have no problems taking the big things to God, but he says to pray about everything! God is interested in our everything. God is concerned about the things that concern us. Third, our text tells us to tell God what we need. God is interested in the details of our life. God is a god of the details. Finally, Paul tells us to thank God for all that He has done. By doing this, we are reminded of what He has done, and therefore, we know that if He did it before, He will do it again.

Our text says that if we do these four things, we will experience the peace of God that is beyond anything that we can understand. The way to keep the blues away is to talk to God, praise Him and let Him love us the way He wants to love us.

Elvis had a big hit with Blue Christmas. Why during this joyous time of year, does such a song strike a note with so many people. Statistically, the holidays are the most stressful time of year. For many reasons, people feel frustration and anxiousness in life. In all the business and hectic pace of the season, many forget that His birth represents peace on earth and goodwill toward men. Our text tonight offers help to chase away the blues, not only during the holidays but at any time of the year. Bro. Hughes explores multiple translations to draw four things from our text that are guaranteed to chase away the blues.

First, Paul says: Do not worry about anything. He was saying to not allow life to drive us to distraction. Life can get so intense that we become so distressed that we cannot think clearly. Paul tells us to remain focused on what truly matters. God has promised that He will take care of us. That is easy to say, but he also gives the way to do thatwith the second thing: pray about everything. We have no problems taking the big things to God, but he says to pray about everything! God is interested in our everything. God is concerned about the things that concern us. Third, our text tells us to tell God what we need. God is interested in the details of our life. God is a god of the details. Finally, Paul tells us to thank God for all that He has done. By doing this, we are reminded of what He has done, and therefore, we know that if He did it before, He will do it again.

Our text says that if we do these four things, we will experience the peace of God that is beyond anything that we can understand. The way to keep the blues away is to talk to God, praise Him and let Him love us the way He wants to love us.

It can be easy to read our text tonight without feeling the full impact of Paul’s words. It is the prelude to the greatest and most moving passage the Paul wrote about Christ Jesus which describes the depth of the love Christ had for us, and the sacrifice He made. Often the real focus of Chapter 2 is the end, so we may hurry through the first four verses in order to get that part. This time, Bro. Hughes reads Philippians 2 with greater interest. The message is provoking and should become the foundation on all that we do. Every action, intention, plan, and purpose should be filtered through this lens. In our humanity, it is easy to become self-centered. We become concerned about our agenda and interests. Paul tells us to be more concerned about His interests than our own. A great fear that Paul had was that the church would become self-centered and self-focused. He knew that the greatest danger of every church is the spirit of selfishness. In the opening verses of this chapter, Paul asks that if the Love of God has made an impact on our lives, to do him a favor and love one another as Christ has loved us. He offered four points for us to consider. First, we are all in Christ. We may not all be as close as we need to be, but we are all saved by the same blood. We are all sinners saved by grace. Secondly, everything that we do should be motivated by the power of love. His love for me has never sought anything for us but good and never based on our merit. His love is based on his mercy for us. We do not deserve His love, and our love for others must be based on that same love. Third, we all share the same Holy Ghost. Finally, we must love based on human compassion. We all want mercy, therefore, we have to extend mercy. We did not have to earn Christ’s mercy, nor could we. We have to extend mercy to others in the same way that Christ has extended mercy to us.

It can be easy to read our text tonight without feeling the full impact of Paul’s words. It is the prelude to the greatest and most moving passage the Paul wrote about Christ Jesus which describes the depth of the love Christ had for us, and the sacrifice He made. Often the real focus of Chapter 2 is the end, so we may hurry through the first four verses in order to get that part. This time, Bro. Hughes reads Philippians 2 with greater interest. The message is provoking and should become the foundation on all that we do. Every action, intention, plan, and purpose should be filtered through this lens. In our humanity, it is easy to become self-centered. We become concerned about our agenda and interests. Paul tells us to be more concerned about His interests than our own. A great fear that Paul had was that the church would become self-centered and self-focused. He knew that the greatest danger of every church is the spirit of selfishness. In the opening verses of this chapter, Paul asks that if the Love of God has made an impact on our lives, to do him a favor and love one another as Christ has loved us. He offered four points for us to consider. First, we are all in Christ. We may not all be as close as we need to be, but we are all saved by the same blood. We are all sinners saved by grace. Secondly, everything that we do should be motivated by the power of love. His love for me has never sought anything for us but good and never based on our merit. His love is based on his mercy for us. We do not deserve His love, and our love for others must be based on that same love. Third, we all share the same Holy Ghost. Finally, we must love based on human compassion. We all want mercy, therefore, we have to extend mercy. We did not have to earn Christ’s mercy, nor could we. We have to extend mercy to others in the same way that Christ has extended mercy to us.

We know a lot about God. We know about the parting of the Red Sea. We know about blind eyes open, deaf ears unstopped, and healings. We know about blessing and provision and making a way when there is no way. In our text, Mary went to the tomb to find Jesus, but he was not there. He appeared standing behind her, but she did not know Him. She should have recognized Him. He was still God, but she did not recognize Him. Job knew God, but at some point, he looked around and could not see Him. God was there, but Job did not recognize what God was doing. We know God. We know that God can do all the things in the opening sentences of this text, but sometimes He does not. He is still God. Mary should have recognized Jesus, but she did not. The cross was brutal. The last time she had seen Jesus, he was bloodied on the cross and in agony. She had watched them take Him down from the cross and lay him in the tomb as a bloody pulp. She knew that God, but she did not know the resurrected God. Just because we do not recognize what God is doing, does not mean that He is not working on our behalf. Mary did not recognize Him because He had a resurrected body. Standing in front of her was the fulfillment of over 300 prophecies about the coming of the Messiah. She was looking the Jesus that had walked the earth for three and a half years, but now He was the God that reached across was pulling all of the prophecies into the present. He was not the same God that she had known. We may have known God in a different time. Perhaps we once felt closer to God, or used of God, or led by God, but now we do not. God is the same. It is we who have changed. God is still there. He is still working on our behalf, even if we cannot see it. Like Mary and Job, we must get to a place where we can recognize Him again. We have to rediscover the God that we do not know.

We know a lot about God. We know about the parting of the Red Sea. We know about blind eyes open, deaf ears unstopped, and healings. We know about blessing and provision and making a way when there is no way. In our text, Mary went to the tomb to find Jesus, but he was not there. He appeared standing behind her, but she did not know Him. She should have recognized Him. He was still God, but she did not recognize Him. Job knew God, but at some point, he looked around and could not see Him. God was there, but Job did not recognize what God was doing. We know God. We know that God can do all the things in the opening sentences of this text, but sometimes He does not. He is still God. Mary should have recognized Jesus, but she did not. The cross was brutal. The last time she had seen Jesus, he was bloodied on the cross and in agony. She had watched them take Him down from the cross and lay him in the tomb as a bloody pulp. She knew that God, but she did not know the resurrected God. Just because we do not recognize what God is doing, does not mean that He is not working on our behalf. Mary did not recognize Him because He had a resurrected body. Standing in front of her was the fulfillment of over 300 prophecies about the coming of the Messiah. She was looking the Jesus that had walked the earth for three and a half years, but now He was the God that reached across was pulling all of the prophecies into the present. He was not the same God that she had known. We may have known God in a different time. Perhaps we once felt closer to God, or used of God, or led by God, but now we do not. God is the same. It is we who have changed. God is still there. He is still working on our behalf, even if we cannot see it. Like Mary and Job, we must get to a place where we can recognize Him again. We have to rediscover the God that we do not know.

Time, waiting and patience are all difficult things for us in our humanity. We want things to happen, but we want them to happen on our schedule and when we are ready. Many stand and declare that the Lord has a purpose and does miracles. We know these things, but some think that He does not do them for us. We often blame ourselves not being good enough to deserve these things. In Genesis 11, we meet Abram and Sarai. In verse 30, the Bible calls out Sarai’s problem: She was barren. God made a covenant with Abram that he would make his seed into a great nation. But to those looking on, God had made a mistake. Either God chose the wrong man, or Abram had the wrong wife. In chapter 12, God commands Abram to move and again promises to make his seed into a great nation. Abram never hesitated and followed God’s direction. By chapter 15, Abram was still unsure of how the covenant would play out since he did not have a child, and he questions God on how it will come to pass. God reminds Abram of the promise but does not offer an answer about how. In chapter 16, Abram and Sarai take matters into their own hands, and try to have a child with Hagar saying “it may be that I may obtain children by her.” We cannot live life by maybe. The enemy wants us to get to the point of maybe. This course did not work out the way that they thought it would. That is always the case when we take matters out of God’s hands. How frustrating it must have been for Abram and Sarai to be following all of God’s direction, but not see the blessing that God had promised. How the enemy must have whispered in their ears about how they were not worthy. Like a haunting memory, it must have poisoned Sarai’s mind. In chapter 15, Abram is 99; thirteen years older than the previous chapter. Thirteen years past when they thought they were too old. In this chapter, God begins to speak a word for Sarai. He says that her name will be Sarah and specifically says that He would give her a son. This leads us to our text this morning. Our text says they laughed when God tells them that Sarah would have a child. They didn’t question or laugh when God tells them to move. But, this time they laugh because this promise involved them. Before, they just had to trust God, but now this part of the promise involves them. The doubt playing in their minds was telling them that they were not good enough. Too many people give up on the promise not because it is too big for God, but because it is too big for us. Some of us have tried to defer our calling because we do not think we are capable. Right in the middle of our text is God’s answer to that doubt: “Is anything too hard for the Lord?” In Genesis 21, the Bible declares “and the Lord visited Sarah as he had said, and the Lord did unto Sarah as he had spoken.” How many times have we been Sarah who agreed with God, but inside we laughed because of our own limitations? If God says it, we can count on it. We may not know when, we may not know how, we may not know the time frame, but it will happen. If God says it, it will happen. We may be limited, but our God is not!

Time, waiting and patience are all difficult things for us in our humanity. We want things to happen, but we want them to happen on our schedule and when we are ready. Many stand and declare that the Lord has a purpose and does miracles. We know these things, but some think that He does not do them for us. We often blame ourselves not being good enough to deserve these things. In Genesis 11, we meet Abram and Sarai. In verse 30, the Bible calls out Sarai’s problem: She was barren. God made a covenant with Abram that he would make his seed into a great nation. But to those looking on, God had made a mistake. Either God chose the wrong man, or Abram had the wrong wife. In chapter 12, God commands Abram to move and again promises to make his seed into a great nation. Abram never hesitated and followed God’s direction. By chapter 15, Abram was still unsure of how the covenant would play out since he did not have a child, and he questions God on how it will come to pass. God reminds Abram of the promise but does not offer an answer about how. In chapter 16, Abram and Sarai take matters into their own hands, and try to have a child with Hagar saying “it may be that I may obtain children by her.” We cannot live life by maybe. The enemy wants us to get to the point of maybe. This course did not work out the way that they thought it would. That is always the case when we take matters out of God’s hands. How frustrating it must have been for Abram and Sarai to be following all of God’s direction, but not see the blessing that God had promised. How the enemy must have whispered in their ears about how they were not worthy. Like a haunting memory, it must have poisoned Sarai’s mind. In chapter 15, Abram is 99; thirteen years older than the previous chapter. Thirteen years past when they thought they were too old. In this chapter, God begins to speak a word for Sarai. He says that her name will be Sarah and specifically says that He would give her a son. This leads us to our text this morning. Our text says they laughed when God tells them that Sarah would have a child. They didn’t question or laugh when God tells them to move. But, this time they laugh because this promise involved them. Before, they just had to trust God, but now this part of the promise involves them. The doubt playing in their minds was telling them that they were not good enough. Too many people give up on the promise not because it is too big for God, but because it is too big for us. Some of us have tried to defer our calling because we do not think we are capable. Right in the middle of our text is God’s answer to that doubt: “Is anything too hard for the Lord?” In Genesis 21, the Bible declares “and the Lord visited Sarah as he had said, and the Lord did unto Sarah as he had spoken.” How many times have we been Sarah who agreed with God, but inside we laughed because of our own limitations? If God says it, we can count on it. We may not know when, we may not know how, we may not know the time frame, but it will happen. If God says it, it will happen. We may be limited, but our God is not!