In our text Elisha had an encounter with the prophet Elijah. It affected him so profoundly, that he knew that he had to make a connection and try to experience more of what he had felt. The bible describes how Elisha sold out to follow Elijah. Not only did he offer the oxen as a sacrifice, he burned the plow that was his means of making a living. He did not want there to be any reason for him to go back to his former life. Our church is entering into a time of a building program. Not only are we still recovering from Hurricane Harvey, we are experiencing growth due to being in the midst of revival. God has great plans for our church and it will be a large undertaking to accomplish it. If our church is going to be what God wants and needs it to be, it will be because we commit to what God is doing in an all in kind of way. Young people have to experience and buy into the vision. Elders have to continue to pray and to mentor the young people. The future of this church resides in the prayers and efforts of all of us pulling together to accomplish what God has planned.

In our text Elisha had an encounter with the prophet Elijah. It affected him so profoundly, that he knew that he had to make a connection and try to experience more of what he had felt. The bible describes how Elisha sold out to follow Elijah. Not only did he offer the oxen as a sacrifice, he burned the plow that was his means of making a living. He did not want there to be any reason for him to go back to his former life. Our church is entering into a time of a building program. Not only are we still recovering from Hurricane Harvey, we are experiencing growth due to being in the midst of revival. God has great plans for our church and it will be a large undertaking to accomplish it. If our church is going to be what God wants and needs it to be, it will be because we commit to what God is doing in an all in kind of way. Young people have to experience and buy into the vision. Elders have to continue to pray and to mentor the young people. The future of this church resides in the prayers and efforts of all of us pulling together to accomplish what God has planned.

God desires greatness for our lives. He wants us to discover His greatness and not only that, to discover our own greatness. Too often people live way below the potential for their lives. Life is restricted by many things; most often by things we are placing on ourselves. We may have a vision or an idea about something, but we place artificial limits on ourselves that keep us from realizing the greatness that God desires for us. For most of us, we are uncomfortable with describing ourselves as great. Describing ourselves as greatest is even more dunging. Given that, how do we get to the greatness that God desires for us? Bro. Hughes sets out today to remove the excuses we have for not being able to attain what God wants for us. Moving from least to greatest is not an instantaneous thing. The way from least to greatest is down the unpopular path of greater. Greater is different fro Great and Greatest. It is a question of degrees. If we move from least just a little, we are greater than we were. We are not at greatest, but we are further down the path than when we began. Too many see great as unattainable, so they never get away from least. Most of us want instantaneous transportation from least to great; like Clark Kent going into the phone booth and coming out as Superman. The reality is that the journey from least to great or greatest is a long one. In our text, Jesus talks of the man planting the seed. It did not grow into the tree described as greatest overnight. The path to greatness is in doing the little things and putting in the work to move along the path. The reason that we are not where God wants us to be, is that we have not made the journey. We want God to buy into our problems and our desires, but we are not willing to buy into His process. If we want to see greatest, we need to be working on greater. We spend so much time worrying about what we don't have, that we do not recognize what we do have. We must start with what we have and begin to use those to make ourselves greater. We want God to do greater things in our life, but we do not use the things that God has given us to do greater things. The secret to the journey from least to greatest is to do a little more each day. Take what God has given us and use it to be better than yesterday. All God needs is a starting place.

God desires greatness for our lives. He wants us to discover His greatness and not only that, to discover our own greatness. Too often people live way below the potential for their lives. Life is restricted by many things; most often by things we are placing on ourselves. We may have a vision or an idea about something, but we place artificial limits on ourselves that keep us from realizing the greatness that God desires for us. For most of us, we are uncomfortable with describing ourselves as great. Describing ourselves as greatest is even more dunging. Given that, how do we get to the greatness that God desires for us? Bro. Hughes sets out today to remove the excuses we have for not being able to attain what God wants for us. Moving from least to greatest is not an instantaneous thing. The way from least to greatest is down the unpopular path of greater. Greater is different fro Great and Greatest. It is a question of degrees. If we move from least just a little, we are greater than we were. We are not at greatest, but we are further down the path than when we began. Too many see great as unattainable, so they never get away from least. Most of us want instantaneous transportation from least to great; like Clark Kent going into the phone booth and coming out as Superman. The reality is that the journey from least to great or greatest is a long one. In our text, Jesus talks of the man planting the seed. It did not grow into the tree described as greatest overnight. The path to greatness is in doing the little things and putting in the work to move along the path. The reason that we are not where God wants us to be, is that we have not made the journey. We want God to buy into our problems and our desires, but we are not willing to buy into His process. If we want to see greatest, we need to be working on greater. We spend so much time worrying about what we don't have, that we do not recognize what we do have. We must start with what we have and begin to use those to make ourselves greater. We want God to do greater things in our life, but we do not use the things that God has given us to do greater things. The secret to the journey from least to greatest is to do a little more each day. Take what God has given us and use it to be better than yesterday. All God needs is a starting place.

The words “It is finished” was a declaration of victory. He didn’t quit or give up, He finished. We should want it to be said of us that we are a finisher, not someone who is finished. We must all learn to live through and beyond IT. We will all experience IT in our lives. Trials, troubles, hardships and storms: We will all experience IT. What is your IT? What is IT that frustrates, angers, or confuses you? What is IT that you have been called to live with or through? IT will often show up at the most inopportune time. Note what Jesus said at this most agonizing time of His life. He said IT is finished. IT had not defeated Him, but He finished IT. How many times have we been distracted by our IT? How many times have we become so consumed with IT, that we forgot to praise? How many times have we been so focused on dealing with IT, that we have forgotten how big our God is? It is not IT that matters, but God that matters. The cross was not the end. IT is not the end, but a passage to a better place.

There are seven last statements of Christ from the cross noted in scripture. These statements are an illustration of how to live through the worst of times. Here is how to make it through IT and see a better day:

The first and last words uttered from the cross was Father. This reminds us how important it is to stay focused on God when going through difficult times.

He said Father forgive them, for they know not what they do.. Forgiveness is a struggle for all of us. Not having forgiveness will make us bitter. Bitterness is a dangerous thing to let take root. The only way to live through troubling times is to maintain a forgiving spirit.

They offered him the wine mixed with gall, he refused it, but He accepted the vinegar. He swallowed the bitterness. Scientists have found that vinegar has some health benefits. Jesus shows us that sometimes the things that are good for us are bitter.

He cried out to God. He as God in flesh and by crying out as He did, he shows us that when dealing with IT, it is okay to be human. But just because the humanity shows through, does not mean that our humanity wins. It is okay to be vulnerable before the Lord. It is not a sign of weakness to cry out to God.

Jesus spoke to the men crucified on either side of Him. Jesus remembered that there were others suffering, not just Him. If we look around, we will find that others are dealing with their own IT and if we turn our attention to helping them, we will be better able to deal with our own IT.

The bible tells us that it was dark from noon until 3 PM. Darkness is frightening. Three hours is a long time to be in the dark. But God put a limit on the darkness. No storm lasts forever. The sun will come up. There will be an end to IT. IT will not last forever.

Jesus’ entire life was an example to us on how to live. Even in the final moments of His life, He demonstrates to us how to live through even the worst in life. He shows the key to finishing IT; not letting IT finish us.

The words “It is finished” was a declaration of victory. He didn’t quit or give up, He finished. We should want it to be said of us that we are a finisher, not someone who is finished. We must all learn to live through and beyond IT. We will all experience IT in our lives. Trials, troubles, hardships and storms: We will all experience IT. What is your IT? What is IT that frustrates, angers, or confuses you? What is IT that you have been called to live with or through? IT will often show up at the most inopportune time. Note what Jesus said at this most agonizing time of His life. He said IT is finished. IT had not defeated Him, but He finished IT. How many times have we been distracted by our IT? How many times have we become so consumed with IT, that we forgot to praise? How many times have we been so focused on dealing with IT, that we have forgotten how big our God is? It is not IT that matters, but God that matters. The cross was not the end. IT is not the end, but a passage to a better place.

There are seven last statements of Christ from the cross noted in scripture. These statements are an illustration of how to live through the worst of times. Here is how to make it through IT and see a better day:

The first and last words uttered from the cross was Father. This reminds us how important it is to stay focused on God when going through difficult times.

He said Father forgive them, for they know not what they do.. Forgiveness is a struggle for all of us. Not having forgiveness will make us bitter. Bitterness is a dangerous thing to let take root. The only way to live through troubling times is to maintain a forgiving spirit.

They offered him the wine mixed with gall, he refused it, but He accepted the vinegar. He swallowed the bitterness. Scientists have found that vinegar has some health benefits. Jesus shows us that sometimes the things that are good for us are bitter.

He cried out to God. He as God in flesh and by crying out as He did, he shows us that when dealing with IT, it is okay to be human. But just because the humanity shows through, does not mean that our humanity wins. It is okay to be vulnerable before the Lord. It is not a sign of weakness to cry out to God.

Jesus spoke to the men crucified on either side of Him. Jesus remembered that there were others suffering, not just Him. If we look around, we will find that others are dealing with their own IT and if we turn our attention to helping them, we will be better able to deal with our own IT.

The bible tells us that it was dark from noon until 3 PM. Darkness is frightening. Three hours is a long time to be in the dark. But God put a limit on the darkness. No storm lasts forever. The sun will come up. There will be an end to IT. IT will not last forever.

Jesus’ entire life was an example to us on how to live. Even in the final moments of His life, He demonstrates to us how to live through even the worst in life. He shows the key to finishing IT; not letting IT finish us.

Our text is a description of a healing that Jesus did on the sabbath. It is one of seven such healings depicted in scripture. As in most of these healings, we do not know the name of the person receiving the miracle. We are introduced to this man simply as the man with the withered hand. This anaomity perhaps indicates to us that the person described could have been any one of us. We do not know how the hand became withered. We know from Mark’s writing of this same story, that this condition was not with him from birth. Luke tells us that it was his right hand. This is significant because in the culture at the time, the right hand was required to shake hands and enter into a contract. The word chosen to describe this man's hand was withered. It comes from a word that means a loss of blood flow; a drying up and wasting away over a period of time. This was not a sudden disaster. He learned to adapt and deal with his loss of function over a period of time. He got used to living that way. That happens to a lot of people. They get used to something and they come to believe that is just the way life is. Some bible scholars have suggested that this man couldn’t work. There is no indication in scripture about this. Likely he could work, but he was not as productive as he once was. He surely had learned to make up with his left hand for that which he could not do with ihs right. The withered hand had not stopped life, but it limited his potential. In spite of his limitations, he continued to live life as normally as he could; Including that he continued to come to the house of God. It did not affect his whole life, only a part. Even with his incapacity, God wanted him to be whole. Many of Jesus’ miracles made people whole. It is not the will of God for us to live at some lesser level and simply get by. He wants us to experience the fullness of His joy. It really doesn’t matter what has happened to us. As painful or uncomfortable as it may have been, God has so much more for us. God can make us whole and put back to a place of usefulness. It is likely not our hand that is withered today. It is probably a wounded spirit. Jesus dealt with more than a withered hand that day. He dealt with men whose hearts had become withered. Withered hearts can come from life’s twists, turns and hurts. God wants to heal those withered hearts too. Maybe it is not our heart that is withered, but our faith. Unanswered prayers. Betrayal. Loss of trust. These things can erode a faith that was once strong. God wants us to trust Him again. Even when we don’t have the strength to stand on our own, God’s hand will hold us up. There is something that God wants to do for us that will totally change the rest of our life. This man did not approach Jesus looking for healing. Jesus called that man out that day knowing what his problem was. The original text indicates that the man was hiding in the back. He may have even been asleep. Jesus called him out to restore his life. God wants to heal a part of our life that has been shriveled up for a long time. What has happened is not as important as what can happen.

Our text is a description of a healing that Jesus did on the sabbath. It is one of seven such healings depicted in scripture. As in most of these healings, we do not know the name of the person receiving the miracle. We are introduced to this man simply as the man with the withered hand. This anaomity perhaps indicates to us that the person described could have been any one of us. We do not know how the hand became withered. We know from Mark’s writing of this same story, that this condition was not with him from birth. Luke tells us that it was his right hand. This is significant because in the culture at the time, the right hand was required to shake hands and enter into a contract. The word chosen to describe this man's hand was withered. It comes from a word that means a loss of blood flow; a drying up and wasting away over a period of time. This was not a sudden disaster. He learned to adapt and deal with his loss of function over a period of time. He got used to living that way. That happens to a lot of people. They get used to something and they come to believe that is just the way life is. Some bible scholars have suggested that this man couldn’t work. There is no indication in scripture about this. Likely he could work, but he was not as productive as he once was. He surely had learned to make up with his left hand for that which he could not do with ihs right. The withered hand had not stopped life, but it limited his potential. In spite of his limitations, he continued to live life as normally as he could; Including that he continued to come to the house of God. It did not affect his whole life, only a part. Even with his incapacity, God wanted him to be whole. Many of Jesus’ miracles made people whole. It is not the will of God for us to live at some lesser level and simply get by. He wants us to experience the fullness of His joy. It really doesn’t matter what has happened to us. As painful or uncomfortable as it may have been, God has so much more for us. God can make us whole and put back to a place of usefulness. It is likely not our hand that is withered today. It is probably a wounded spirit. Jesus dealt with more than a withered hand that day. He dealt with men whose hearts had become withered. Withered hearts can come from life’s twists, turns and hurts. God wants to heal those withered hearts too. Maybe it is not our heart that is withered, but our faith. Unanswered prayers. Betrayal. Loss of trust. These things can erode a faith that was once strong. God wants us to trust Him again. Even when we don’t have the strength to stand on our own, God’s hand will hold us up. There is something that God wants to do for us that will totally change the rest of our life. This man did not approach Jesus looking for healing. Jesus called that man out that day knowing what his problem was. The original text indicates that the man was hiding in the back. He may have even been asleep. Jesus called him out to restore his life. God wants to heal a part of our life that has been shriveled up for a long time. What has happened is not as important as what can happen.

It is far too easy to get used to living with disfunction. We become accustomed to the stain in the carpet or the leaky faucet. We have a way of filtering things out. It is said that people who live near the train tracks, do not hear the sound of the train going by. We are geared to becoming desensitised to things. Spiritually we can experience the same thing. We can become so used to things being as they are. Because of this, we should look at our lives and the things we are doing and ask the question: Is this pleasing to God? We should remind ourselves of things that are priorities to Him. The temple that Jesus walked into in our text was quite dysfunctional It had drifted so far away from what was intended for the temple, that it was unrecognizable. The temple experience had moved from a sacrificial exercise, but one that was simply matter of convenience. There was still animal sacrifices taking place, but the temple had become a marketplace that did not require much effort on those who came to worship. Just as then, God is still concerned about what goes on under the banner of His name. When Jesus stepped into the temple that day, He did so with the intent of putting things back into their proper order. When we read our text, there are four things that Jesus did to put the house back in order and set the environment for the spiritual experience that should be present in the house of God.

First Jesus purified the temple. He purged it of all the things that he considered irrelevant to what should be there. Second He reestablished the purpose for the Temple: My house will be a house or prayer. They were wrong sounds coming from the church. In place of the hawkers trying to sell livestock, there should have been the sound of prayer. Third Jesus demonstrated power by performing miracles by healing people. Finaly, once the temple had been purified, prayers had gone up and God’s power had been released, praise began to erupt from that place. We believe that praise is the beginning, but the truth is that it is opposite of that. When we have cleansed our heart, prayed and submitted to the Power of god, then Praise will be spontaneous.

There in this text, are the marks of a healthy church: Purify, Prayer, Power, Praise

When these things are present, there will be A Church That Pleases God

It is far too easy to get used to living with disfunction. We become accustomed to the stain in the carpet or the leaky faucet. We have a way of filtering things out. It is said that people who live near the train tracks, do not hear the sound of the train going by. We are geared to becoming desensitised to things. Spiritually we can experience the same thing. We can become so used to things being as they are. Because of this, we should look at our lives and the things we are doing and ask the question: Is this pleasing to God? We should remind ourselves of things that are priorities to Him. The temple that Jesus walked into in our text was quite dysfunctional It had drifted so far away from what was intended for the temple, that it was unrecognizable. The temple experience had moved from a sacrificial exercise, but one that was simply matter of convenience. There was still animal sacrifices taking place, but the temple had become a marketplace that did not require much effort on those who came to worship. Just as then, God is still concerned about what goes on under the banner of His name. When Jesus stepped into the temple that day, He did so with the intent of putting things back into their proper order. When we read our text, there are four things that Jesus did to put the house back in order and set the environment for the spiritual experience that should be present in the house of God.

First Jesus purified the temple. He purged it of all the things that he considered irrelevant to what should be there. Second He reestablished the purpose for the Temple: My house will be a house or prayer. They were wrong sounds coming from the church. In place of the hawkers trying to sell livestock, there should have been the sound of prayer. Third Jesus demonstrated power by performing miracles by healing people. Finaly, once the temple had been purified, prayers had gone up and God’s power had been released, praise began to erupt from that place. We believe that praise is the beginning, but the truth is that it is opposite of that. When we have cleansed our heart, prayed and submitted to the Power of god, then Praise will be spontaneous.

There in this text, are the marks of a healthy church: Purify, Prayer, Power, Praise

When these things are present, there will be A Church That Pleases God