Our text conveys a story about an unexpected midnight visit. Midnight is important because the hour does not determine His response. God wants to help us at any time, no matter what the hour. The urgency of the need called for determination and persistence at that late hour. We may be in a midnight hour situation, but that is no challenge to God. Our text is not a story about a man and his friend. Those characters do appear in the text, but the message is much larger. The message of this text is not of God responding to a need to save His honor. The story is about a man with a desperate need who comes to the door. The story underscores the action of the one making the request.

Jesus tells the story from our perspective. He said, “suppose that WE go to our friend’s house at midnight. How would WE feel if we were in the situation to be in such need that we would abandon typical protocols and customs to address it? The essence of the story is the man’s persistence knocking, even after being rebuffed. The answer came because of his importunity. If we are going to get what we need to survive our current world, we must demonstrate some importunity, break some protocols, and get out of our comfort zones. The hour in which we live demands people who have the audacity to continue knocking.

Our text conveys a story about an unexpected midnight visit. Midnight is important because the hour does not determine His response. God wants to help us at any time, no matter what the hour. The urgency of the need called for determination and persistence at that late hour. We may be in a midnight hour situation, but that is no challenge to God. Our text is not a story about a man and his friend. Those characters do appear in the text, but the message is much larger. The message of this text is not of God responding to a need to save His honor. The story is about a man with a desperate need who comes to the door. The story underscores the action of the one making the request.

Jesus tells the story from our perspective. He said, “suppose that WE go to our friend’s house at midnight. How would WE feel if we were in the situation to be in such need that we would abandon typical protocols and customs to address it? The essence of the story is the man’s persistence knocking, even after being rebuffed. The answer came because of his importunity. If we are going to get what we need to survive our current world, we must demonstrate some importunity, break some protocols, and get out of our comfort zones. The hour in which we live demands people who have the audacity to continue knocking.

Our text conveys a story about an unexpected midnight visit. Midnight is important because the hour does not determine His response. God wants to help us at any time, no matter what the hour. The urgency of the need called for determination and persistence at that late hour. We may be in a midnight hour situation, but that is no challenge to God. Our text is not a story about a man and his friend. Those characters do appear in the text, but the message is much larger. The message of this text is not of God responding to a need to save His honor. The story is about a man with a desperate need who comes to the door. The story underscores the action of the one making the request.

Jesus tells the story from our perspective. He said, “suppose that WE go to our friend’s house at midnight. How would WE feel if we were in the situation to be in such need that we would abandon typical protocols and customs to address it? The essence of the story is the man’s persistence knocking, even after being rebuffed. The answer came because of his importunity. If we are going to get what we need to survive our current world, we must demonstrate some importunity, break some protocols, and get out of our comfort zones. The hour in which we live demands people who have the audacity to continue knocking.

From picking teams in elementary school to being turned down by a love interest to not getting the job we wanted, we all have felt the pain of rejection. Some people have experienced it over and over again. God has experienced rejection over and over. From the fall in the garden to the consistent turning away by Israel, God experienced so much rejection that He even lamented creating humanity. Jesus walked in a fleshly body that shared the same emotions and pain that we do. He came to fulfill the prophecy, but even on His first night on earth, He made his bed in a manger because there was no room at the inn. Jesus’ life on earth was marked by constant rejection. As a human, He hurt from the sting of rejection, but as God, He came to fulfill His plan of salvation. The bible speaks about the stone the builder rejected. That stone is the foundation of everything. We, too, can be guilty of rejecting Him. Not in the way we read Israel or the Pharisees did, but by not responding to Him when He is near. How many times have we been in His presence and not entirely given in to Him? We must make every effort to receive this living, precious stone.

From picking teams in elementary school to being turned down by a love interest to not getting the job we wanted, we all have felt the pain of rejection. Some people have experienced it over and over again. God has experienced rejection over and over. From the fall in the garden to the consistent turning away by Israel, God experienced so much rejection that He even lamented creating humanity. Jesus walked in a fleshly body that shared the same emotions and pain that we do. He came to fulfill the prophecy, but even on His first night on earth, He made his bed in a manger because there was no room at the inn. Jesus’ life on earth was marked by constant rejection. As a human, He hurt from the sting of rejection, but as God, He came to fulfill His plan of salvation. The bible speaks about the stone the builder rejected. That stone is the foundation of everything. We, too, can be guilty of rejecting Him. Not in the way we read Israel or the Pharisees did, but by not responding to Him when He is near. How many times have we been in His presence and not entirely given in to Him? We must make every effort to receive this living, precious stone.

From picking teams in elementary school to being turned down by a love interest to not getting the job we wanted, we all have felt the pain of rejection. Some people have experienced it over and over again. God has experienced rejection over and over. From the fall in the garden to the consistent turning away by Israel, God experienced so much rejection that He even lamented creating humanity. Jesus walked in a fleshly body that shared the same emotions and pain that we do. He came to fulfill the prophecy, but even on His first night on earth, He made his bed in a manger because there was no room at the inn. Jesus’ life on earth was marked by constant rejection. As a human, He hurt from the sting of rejection, but as God, He came to fulfill His plan of salvation. The bible speaks about the stone the builder rejected. That stone is the foundation of everything. We, too, can be guilty of rejecting Him. Not in the way we read Israel or the Pharisees did, but by not responding to Him when He is near. How many times have we been in His presence and not entirely given in to Him? We must make every effort to receive this living, precious stone.

God often asks questions in scripture. He does not ask these questions to gain information; He asks these questions for our benefit and to open our eyes to the possibilities. God is always in a teaching mode in His relationship with us. It is a tragedy when we go through the trials of life but do not learn anything from it. The Psalmist paints a stark picture of God’s relationship with Israel when he says they limited God. This word is only used three times in the bible. In this context, it means to draw a line in our lives that allows God to be god only up to that point. God spoke the universe into being, parted the Red Sea, and provided mana in the wilderness. But somehow, we do not believe He can deal with any situation that comes our way. We draw a circle around Him that limits his abilities and powers from doing what He wants to do. In our text, Jesus asks how much food they had to feed the multitude. They report that they ONLY had five loves and two SMALL fish. They add to the report that “it is not enough.” They were placing limits on Him. God’s ability is not limited by our inability to see the full potential of His power if we would only allow him access to what we have.

How do we limit God? We do that when we seek a temporary relief rather than a deliverance from our problem. God wants to do more than just pick us up on Sunday; He wants to carry us through all week. We limit God when we judge the present by the past. The man at the pool of Bethesda offered excuses based on what happened in the past. How many of us limit our lives because we cannot believe that things can be different from the past? We limit Him when we see the problem, but not the possibilities. His presence challenges everything. We limit God when we fail to respond to His call. God is never going to ask us to do something that we are incapable of doing. We limit God when we give him our problem but do not take our hands off it and allow Him to have it. As long as we continue to hold onto our trials, God cannot handle them.

God often asks questions in scripture. He does not ask these questions to gain information; He asks these questions for our benefit and to open our eyes to the possibilities. God is always in a teaching mode in His relationship with us. It is a tragedy when we go through the trials of life but do not learn anything from it. The Psalmist paints a stark picture of God’s relationship with Israel when he says they limited God. This word is only used three times in the bible. In this context, it means to draw a line in our lives that allows God to be god only up to that point. God spoke the universe into being, parted the Red Sea, and provided mana in the wilderness. But somehow, we do not believe He can deal with any situation that comes our way. We draw a circle around Him that limits his abilities and powers from doing what He wants to do. In our text, Jesus asks how much food they had to feed the multitude. They report that they ONLY had five loves and two SMALL fish. They add to the report that “it is not enough.” They were placing limits on Him. God’s ability is not limited by our inability to see the full potential of His power if we would only allow him access to what we have.

How do we limit God? We do that when we seek a temporary relief rather than a deliverance from our problem. God wants to do more than just pick us up on Sunday; He wants to carry us through all week. We limit God when we judge the present by the past. The man at the pool of Bethesda offered excuses based on what happened in the past. How many of us limit our lives because we cannot believe that things can be different from the past? We limit Him when we see the problem, but not the possibilities. His presence challenges everything. We limit God when we fail to respond to His call. God is never going to ask us to do something that we are incapable of doing. We limit God when we give him our problem but do not take our hands off it and allow Him to have it. As long as we continue to hold onto our trials, God cannot handle them.

God often asks questions in scripture. He does not ask these questions to gain information; He asks these questions for our benefit and to open our eyes to the possibilities. God is always in a teaching mode in His relationship with us. It is a tragedy when we go through the trials of life but do not learn anything from it. The Psalmist paints a stark picture of God’s relationship with Israel when he says they limited God. This word is only used three times in the bible. In this context, it means to draw a line in our lives that allows God to be god only up to that point. God spoke the universe into being, parted the Red Sea, and provided mana in the wilderness. But somehow, we do not believe He can deal with any situation that comes our way. We draw a circle around Him that limits his abilities and powers from doing what He wants to do. In our text, Jesus asks how much food they had to feed the multitude. They report that they ONLY had five loves and two SMALL fish. They add to the report that “it is not enough.” They were placing limits on Him. God’s ability is not limited by our inability to see the full potential of His power if we would only allow him access to what we have.

How do we limit God? We do that when we seek a temporary relief rather than a deliverance from our problem. God wants to do more than just pick us up on Sunday; He wants to carry us through all week. We limit God when we judge the present by the past. The man at the pool of Bethesda offered excuses based on what happened in the past. How many of us limit our lives because we cannot believe that things can be different from the past? We limit Him when we see the problem, but not the possibilities. His presence challenges everything. We limit God when we fail to respond to His call. God is never going to ask us to do something that we are incapable of doing. We limit God when we give him our problem but do not take our hands off it and allow Him to have it. As long as we continue to hold onto our trials, God cannot handle them.

Tonight we hear from three young men from our Hyphen group. Jonathan Starks, Anthony Carrico, and Malichi Howard speak from their hearts about Perfect Peace, Being a Beacon, and The Call to the Harvest.