Harmony Christian Church

Have you ever had a failure in your life that still haunts you?  Most of us have.  Today we jump to the end of the story to look how Jesus & His resurrection brought restoration to a massive failure.  Jump in with us in Sections 247 of the Gospel Harmonies @ https://www.harmonychurch.cc/tracking-jesus-timeline/. IT'S EASY TO GIVE at Harmony, text any amount to (859) 459-0316  to get started (or give online @ my.harmonychurch.cc/give ).

OPENING ILLUSTRATION:

Several weeks ago I installed a new shower in our bathroom.  Let me just tell you, I’m at best mildly handy.  Like I’m constantly thinking, “don’t cut your hand out, don’t cut your hand off”.  But I knew our shower wasn’t going to fix itself.  So, I got some advice from Anthony and went after it.  Everything was going great until about the 2nd hour into it the demolition when I accidentally place my little ladder on the shower drain pipe without knowing it and snapped it off - inside the wall…  It was just downhill from there.  I had to cut out the floor to fix the pipe - the structure I put in to support the pipe kept it from fitting up snugly to the base - which of course I realized after gluing the basin down.  Literally, when I was on the 10-yard line and installing the shower handle, I had to put a screw into the valve behind the wall and the screw broke off in the valve, behind the wall…  Oh man, it was just failure after failure - what was crushing about it is when that stuff happened to me. It doesn't just feel like I've hit an issue, it feels like it is me...

Failure feels crushing because failure feels final

It feels personal…

b

How do you personally respond to failure?

I mean big failures?

What does it mean for you when your business failed?

When your marriage failed?

When your kids ended up not turning out at all like you dreamed they would?

When you fail your kids?

Ways people tend to respond to failure…

-Anger

-Avoidance - act as though it never happened - give attention to something else, withdraw

-Reengage with a vengeance

-Create agreements ("I'll never let xy&z happen to me again,” ”I'm never going to allow myself to be put in that situation again")

-Self-doubt

-Embarrassment & shame

-Depression & Desperation

These are just some of the ways we all try and overcome failure.  I want to ask you a pretty serious question…

What’s the worst failure of your life?

Now, I want to be gentle with your soul right now, I’m not trying to bring you into a dark place, so you need to be gentle with yourself too.  Don’t start beating yourself up about it.  I want you to just kind of put it out on a pedestal for you to look at, without judgment.  But what is it?  What’s the thing you’re most embarrassed about or

Do you really know who Jesus is? Jesus tells us who he is through the miracles he did.  Jump in with us in Sections 44 of the Gospel Harmonies @ https://www.harmonychurch.cc/tracking-jesus-timeline/. IT'S EASY TO GIVE at Harmony, text any amount to (859) 459-0316  to get started (or give online @ my.harmonychurch.cc/give ).

OPENING:

Do you really know who Jesus is? Jesus tells us who He is through the miracles He did. People respond differently to the miracles that Jesus performed, and we can find these same responses in ourselves. Are you carried along in your faith like the paralytic through the roof, trying to earn it like the man by the pool, or are you like the centurion who has true faith in knowing who Jesus really is? It's time to simply turn to Jesus.

So What Do You Do?

Meeting new people is a bit hard, right? At least it is for me. That might sound weird, but I do sometimes find it a bit awkward to be thrown into a new environment full of strangers and expected to make friends. Now some people definitely can’t relate. They’re the sort who could have a full conversation with a tree. They’ve never met a stranger. That’s not necessarily me. I have no problem once the conversation gets going, but starting it up is a bit difficult. I’ve found that having a few icebreakers ready to go seems to help. If you also find it a bit hard to get things in a new conversation, then I’ll give you a few icebreakers to try out and these are completely free! They’re my gift to you.

Ok, so this one is a classic. “How much does a polar bear weigh, enough to break the ice? Hi, my name is Robby.” That one is like old faithful. It’s the one I always go to. Another technique I like to use is to ask a question that throws them off. I find that if they’re hit with a strange out of the blue question, it sometimes lowers their defenses and makes conversation easier. A few of my favorite questions are, “Is cereal a soup?” “If you had to eat a crayon, what color would you choose?” “Would you rather fight one horse-sized duck or ten duck-sized horses?” See, these are great at getting people out of their comfort zone. It may also totally weird them out and then they’ll leave you alone, which I sometimes also consider a win. If those don’t really work for you or maybe you’re in a more formal setting, then I have some great questions you could try that won’t get you brought before HR. “What is your cell phone wallpaper?” “What’s the best book you’ve read this year?” “Who is the most famous person you’ve ever met?” I find that these questions are much better than some of the boring icebreakers people usually use.

While really asking any questions about a person is usually a great way to ease the tension, I mean everyone’s favorite subject to talk about is themselves, there is one question, in particular, I absolutely hate answering. It’s also, unfortunately, the most common question people ask when you first meet them. “So, what do you do for work?” Ugh, I hate that question. It’s not because I’m ashamed of being a pastor or anything. It’s because usually when I reply, “I’m a pastor,” the other person sometimes makes the conversation really weird. Ironically, it’s the people who aren’t believers who usually just carry on with the conversation, but sometimes people begin to just give me their spiritual resume. “Oh, I used to go to church, but I just haven’t found the right one. This is my favorite bible verse, what’s yours? I went to church as a kid. I’m a Christian, I just don’t really do the whole going to church thing. I went on a mission trip before to Mexico.” I

Jesus was clear about who He was and what His life means for you.  Are you clear about that?  Be sure to tune in and listen closely today to hear the power of settling in your mind and heart what you think of Jesus.  Jump in with us in Sections 43 of the Gospel Harmonies @ https://www.harmonychurch.cc/tracking-jesus-timeline/. IT'S EASY TO GIVE at Harmony, text any amount to (859) 459-0316  to get started (or give online @ my.harmonychurch.cc/give ).

OPENING ILLUSTRATION:

So, I’ve told you guys, growing up I was a turd of a kid.  I mean, seriously, I was the worst!  I was in 7th grade in middle school I had said something pretty terrible in class - one of those things that teacher's face turns red and they are doing everything they can not to beat you in the moment.  Yeah, it was one of those things.  She yelled at me to immediately go to the principles office, do not pass go, do not collect $200.  I went to his office, his secretary told me to wait outside his door.  He finally called me into his office, I went in and sat down in the chair in front of his desk.  He said, “who told you to sit down”  I immediately knew I was in trouble so I stood up, he said, “sit down Wagner…”  Oh, man…  I was in SO much trouble…

I was in that office to be judged for what I had done wrong.

Trust me, if you knew what I said that day, you would want me judged…

b

Our world has a problem with “judging” but what we mean is I don’t want anyone telling me what to do.

b

The idea of “Justice” - righting wrongs, requires some kind of judgment, doesn’t it?

b

If someone were to abuse a child, you would want Justice for that child, wouldn’t you?  You would want judgment…

Today, we’re going to jump into a section where Jesus will talk about judgment - it’s following the healing at the pool of Bethesda where Jesus is going to be challenged and he’s going to say some integral things about judging that you WON”T want to miss.

If you remember, Jesus healed this lame guy by the pool of Bethesda, He asked him if he wants to get better and he does.  Jesus heals him and tells the guy to pick up his mat and carry it.  Which in Jewish tradition is a HUGE no no.  The Sabbath - honoring it, was the 4th commandment in the 10 commandments.  The Jews believe that work can be constituted by carrying something from one domain to another, so from a pool to your home.  They catch this guy and are mad at him for carrying it and he’s like, “I”m just doing what the guy who healed me told me to do…”  After this guys saw Jesus at the temple, he turns Jesus in to these leaders - he’s a foreshadow of Judas if you ask me.  

But when these guys come and ask Jesus why He’s working on the Sabbath, Jesus says this.

John 5:17

17 In his defense Jesus said to them, “My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I too am working.”

Jesus is, in essence, saying “I’m doing work on the Sabbath because my Father is always working, and I’m just like my Father"

liste

We all have temporary problems and terminal problems - are you willing to let Jesus' power into yours to transform your world?  What would that look like??  Today, Kent is going to unpack a surprising way this idea could change your life.  Jump in with us in Sections 42 of the Gospel Harmonies @ https://www.harmonychurch.cc/tracking-jesus-timeline/. IT'S EASY TO GIVE at Harmony, text any amount to (859) 459-0316  to get started (or give online @ my.harmonychurch.cc/give ).

John 5:1-15

Some time later, Jesus went up to Jerusalem for one of the Jewish festivals. 2 Now there is in Jerusalem near the Sheep Gate a pool, which in Aramaic is called Bethesda[a] and which is surrounded by five covered colonnades. 

Archaeologists have uncovered this pool in Jerusalem.  It’s one of the big bummers about my trip, we were unable to visit this pool so I’ve only seen it online and in pictures - but it’s actually two pools - one to the north and one to the south,  These colonnades were like covered porches…

3 Here a great number of disabled people used to lie—the blind, the lame, the paralyzed. [4] [b] 5 One who was there had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. 6 When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he asked him, “Do you want to get well?”

ILLUSTRATION:

You guys love the price is right?  Remember that show - it’s what I’d watch when I stayed home sick from school…  “come on down, your up next on the Price is right!”

well, I promised I’d tell you where there were weird or contradictory things in the passages I preach on.  This is one of those.  did anyone notice there isn’t actually a verse 4 here?  There’s just a note…  The note is that some of our later copies of the greek manuscripts - specifically the ones that the King James version used, had a verse about Angels coming down and stirring the water, and the first one into the pool won and got healed.  It was a little like the first-century version of price is right!  “come on down, you’re next to get healed!”

The problem is, this verse isn’t in our earliest greek manuscripts - what scholars think happened is that someone who was copying the manuscripts put a note about a legend of why these people are by the pool - which by the way means house of mercy and later was a site of pagan healing.  The thought is this copyist makes the note and as people are copying, eventually, it gets moved into the main text as part of the verse.  We are able to know that what we have is a solid representation of the actual written new testament because we compare all the versions and are able to see what is in all of them and was obviously the original material…

So, here’s the question.

Jesus is walking around, he’s obviously inquiring about how long everyone has been there or been sick, and he only chooses one.  Why does Jesus pick this guy over anyone else?

B

Because what’s interesting is John tells us there were a lot of disabled people there -

What would change about your life if you lived like you believed you'd live forever?  How would your worry change?  How would you invest your time differently?  Today, Kent is going to unpack a surprising way this idea could change your life.  Jump in with us in Sections 40 of the Gospel Harmonies @ https://www.harmonychurch.cc/tracking-jesus-timeline/. IT'S EASY TO GIVE at Harmony, text any amount to (859) 459-0316  to get started (or give online @ my.harmonychurch.cc/give ).

OPENING ILLUSTRATION:

Have you ever sat in a church and heard a pastor talk about how someday you’re going to have an epitaph on your gravestone?  We will ask the question, what will you want to be remembered by…  

the real question is, ‘what kind of legacy do you want to leave?’

It’s a great question, right, because it gets you thinking about the brevity of life on earth.

But something I’ve been thinking about lately is a different way to highlight what is important.

Can I ask you a question?

What would change about the way you live, if you ACTUALLY believed that you were going to exist for the rest of eternity?

What I mean is this: I think most of us know that eternal life is a huge part of the gospel message

b

But how many of us ACT as though we believe that?

Let me put it another way

I heard Francis Chan use this illustration once and I thought it was genius…

[Pull out a long thick rope]

Imagine this rope represents the length of eternal life - it extends into all history - [have the rope going off stage to where you can’t see it anymore]

Most of us live like this first little inch of the rope is the most important part - 

We build our own little empires. 

The new dream is to have  the way we want it, gather as many resources for ourselves as possible

We even have sayings like, “carving out your own piece of the pie”

But somehow, we neglect that this is only one little tiny part of the life and existence we will inhabit.

b

And the empire we build in this part of life, won’t come with us into the next.

So, let me ask you again

If you really believed that once you’ve placed your trust in Jesus as your ultimate leader, you have eternal life - what should change about the way you live?

I want to show you just one way it might change, we’re going to take a quick look at a moment from Jesus’ life…

Mt 9:9-13

As Jesus went on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax collector’s booth. 

Mark & Luke tell us that this tax collector’s name is Levi, only Matthew tells us this is actually the author of the book you're reading who is writing his first-hand account - he’s actually goi

"Follow Me," Jesus is still putting this call on us, are you willing to respond to Him?  Jump in with us in Sections 33 of the Gospel Harmonies @ https://www.harmonychurch.cc/tracking-jesus-timeline/. IT'S EASY TO GIVE at Harmony, text any amount to (859) 459-0316  to get started (or give online @ my.harmonychurch.cc/give ).

WELCOME & INTRODUCTION TO SERVICE:

When I got back from Israel last summer, I was coming down the escalator, ready to go grab my luggage, but as I was coming out I saw my family waiting for me.  I hadn't seen them for weeks and I forgot everything else, all I wanted was to surround myself with them.

Look, this week we are doing something different for worship because tonight we are doing something different tonight - we are having an old-school worship & prayer night, where we are inviting people to come and share testimonies of the good things they've seen God do and we're going to seek God.

And we thought, why don't we bring that to Sunday morning.  So, this morning, it's just Anthony with a guitar, leading us - no lights, nothing fancy - not that all that's bad.  But we wanted to be sure that this morning - you come off of your week and you see that God is standing right there waiting for you...

David, writing the psalms said this:

Psalm 41:1-2

As a deer pants for flowing streams,

    so pants my soul for you, O God.

2 My soul thirsts for God,

    for the living God.

When shall I come and appear before God?

I'll tell you when, today, today we are coming before God - we are inviting you to join us in worshiping Jesus with everything you've got...  Because there is NOTHING better than Him!  Nothing!

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

--------------- 

OPENING ILLUSTRATION:

How many of you went to the Journey concert a few weeks ago on Valentine's day?  

oh man, I would have loved to have gone!  

Have you guys seen the documentary, “don’t stop believing” about Arnel Pineda from the Philippines becoming the new lead singer for Journey?  He was singing in bars in the Philippines - Steve Perry wouldn’t come back on tour with Journey and so they started just pulling up youtube videos of people singing and came across Pineda.  He sounded just like Perry, so they called him up and asked him to eventually become the frontman of the band.

Crazy right?

He went from singing in bars to blowing out huge concert venues.

We love those kinds of stories, don’t we?  Because we believe, maybe, just maybe there’s a chance for us too…

<

Today Kent gets in our faces and challenges us with whether we've settled for being a Casual Acquaintance of Jesus, or having an intimate relationship with Him.  Jump in with us in Sections 32 of the Gospel Harmonies @ https://www.harmonychurch.cc/tracking-jesus-timeline/. IT'S EASY TO GIVE at Harmony, text any amount to (859) 459-0316  to get started (or give online @ my.harmonychurch.cc/give ).

OPENING ILLUSTRATION:

Oh my gosh, the other day, I was SO scatterbrained - so much going on that we were going somewhere and the GPS kept being like, “turn right now” and I’d be past the turn.  I’d flip onto another street and the GPS was like, “turn here” and again, I’d already be past the turn.  It got to the point where google maps started insulting me, “turn around dummy…  You keep going past the turns.  Why don’t you listen to me”  lol, it should have - they should have an “insensitive setting”

I do think Jenni was like, “do you need me to drive?”  Lol

Even though I had the map right in front of me, I just kept missing my destination.

b

Oofta!  If that doesn’t describe so many of our spiritual experiences, I don’t know what does…

We all know what it’s like to have the map in front of us and miss the destination

We are jumping back into the life of Jesus with some people who just absolutely miss Jesus…

You ever do this, you're back in your hometown and you’re seeing guys you played ball with in High school, or an old boyfriend, or the lady who watched you growing up.  Jesus is there in Nazareth, it’s Saturday and He is going to Synagogue for worship.

Lk 4:16-21

16 He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. He stood up to read,17 and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written:

18 “The Spirit of the Lord is on me,

    because he has anointed me

    to proclaim good news to the poor.

He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners

    and recovery of sight for the blind,

to set the oppressed free,

19     to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”[a]

20 Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him.21 He began by saying to them, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”

This passage is a passage about the Messiah coming from 700 years before Jesus

b

This is a mic-drop moment

Everyone is hushed - I would ha

There's a razor's edge difference between bravery & stupidity.  Check out today's message looking at the bravery of Jesus and other early Christians and see how it challenges you.  Jump in with us in Sections 30 of the Gospel Harmonies @ https://www.harmonychurch.cc/tracking-jesus-timeline/. IT'S EASY TO GIVE at Harmony, text any amount to (859) 459-0316  to get started (or give online @ my.harmonychurch.cc/give ).

OPENING ILLUSTRATION:

When I was a kid, I really only got in one fistfight.  There was this kid in my neighborhood named Matt Peeka - Matt was the kid everyone loved to pick on.  He was a year older than me, but I was bigger than him..

My buddies and I had this tree house down at the Creek that was near my house that we had all worked on building together.  There were these tall reeds there.  I can remember that day, we were all hanging out at the treehouse and for some reason, we all started talking about fighting.  Now, ladies, you might not get this, but the guys will.  Matt and I weren’t mad at each other, my buddies just were like, “you two should fight” and I was dumb enough to be like, “yeah, why not…”

I figured I was bigger than Matt, but let me tell you something, the kid who gets picked on all the time, is not the kid you should choose to fight when you’re not mad.  Not only that, but Matt came from an abusive family - I know for a fact his dad had beat him before with a bicycle chain (which I on a side note, if you are doing that and you are in here - come talk to me and get help and you get out of your family until you can be a different kind of parent).

So, when I stepped out in those reeds with Matt with all the guys standing around yelling “fight, fight, fight” - as the camera swooped around us, I had no idea what I was in for…  Matt came out like a caged tiger.  He just started pounding my face over and over again.  I didn’t know what to do - I pushed him, I punched his body but couldn’t bring myself to hit him in the face and all the while, he just bloodied my face…  

I’m not proud of it, but I finally just ran away…

Don’t be sad for me though, I’m kind of glad it happened, I figure Matt probably needed that “win” in his life :)

Here’s what I’m reminded of though

There is a razor's edge difference between brave and stupid.

b

Knowing when you’ve crossed from brave to stupid is key.

Today, I want us to look at Jesus in a peculiar spot and what I want you to notice is how Jesus walks the razor's edge into bravery.  Then we’re gonna look at why He does this and how others have followed His example and you can too…

Mk 1:14-15

14 After John was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God. 15 “The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!”

THE STORY:

Herod Antipas - this is the son of Herod the Great who killed the babies @ Christmas.  Antipas has taken his brother's wife, Herodias as his lover.  John the Baptist had been preaching against this union saying it was unlawful and he had been

OPENING ILLUSTRATION:

When I first became a Christian I would hear Christians use words like, “what a testimony” or, “you could be a powerful witness for Jesus” and I have to be honest, I was like, “what the heck are you talking about?”  

I just kept thinking I was gonna get called into court and asked to testify about Jesus or worse yet, there would be some guy shining a light in my face while I’m tied to a chair asking me

“Now, tell me your whereabouts on January 5, 2010, at 6 pm….”

It wasn’t till I had been around for a while that I learned

Being a witness or having a testimony was you sharing your God story with someone who’s never heard it.

But maybe you are sitting out there going, 

b

“Kent, I don’t have a ‘God’ story and even if I do, why would I need to share it - that’s a private thing between me and God”

b

Can I take you to a story today that might help you see why you sharing your God story could be one of the most impactful things you could do?

SCRIPTURE:

We are going to be in John chapter 4 today, I want to tell you the story of what’s happening and then get to the end of it…

Jesus has been in Judea - think the area around Jerusalem - the best way to think of Israel is to think of someone with their arm held up, cut off their chest and the top part of their arm above the elbow and that’s what the country looks like.  Judea is the bicep. Jesus is heading towards Galilee - north of the elbow :).

The reason Jesus is on the move is that the fuzz is hot on his tail - He’s starting to pick up some heat from the religious leaders and His time hasn’t come yet.  And Jesus makes an interesting choice - see, normally, Jewish people when they would travel between Galilee & Judea would travel around an area known as Samaria.  You’ve heard of a “good Samaritan” before, but did you know that there is a series of mountains between the north of the elbow and your bicep that a group of people actually lived who are called the Samaritans - there are still like 900 people of this decent alive today.  In ancient times Israel had been broken into two Kingdoms, a Northern Kingdom and a Southern Kingdom.  The Northern Kingdom was taken captive by the Assyrians, and when that happened, the people left behind became the Samaritans - basically, they were Jewish, but they had one major difference, they claimed the place you worshipped God was on a mountain inter territory, not the southern territory…

They literally changed what the old testament said to reflect this and for a 1st-century Jew, this made them hate them.

It would be like someone saying, “in order to be a real Kentuckian, you have to cheer for Louisville :)”

The Jews would go around Samaria, because of their deep hate for them

b

But not Jesus - Jesus tends to go straight through Samaria

b

There’s something about Him that takes Him where no one else is willing to go…

oof there’s a sermon in there, but it’s for another day…

What is the story you've been living in?  What if you could write a story with your life that would change eternity.  Jump in with us in Sections 25 of the Gospel Harmonies @ https://www.harmonychurch.cc/tracking-jesus-timeline/. IT'S EASY TO GIVE at Harmony, text any amount to (859) 459-0316  to get started (or give online @ my.harmonychurch.cc/give ).

OPENING ILLUSTRATION:

So, years ago, after we left our church plant, I stepped out of ministry for about a year and worked at a friend's car dealership doing online marketing and social media.  The dealership was doing some construction and had chosen not to hire a union crew. On my way to work the first week, I pulled up to the dealership and there was this huge banner with these people holding it that said, “Shame on Subaru of Wichita…”  I saw this sign for a couple of days in a row and had this idea, “we should put out a sign that says, “for having unbeatable prices”

I couldn’t shake the idea, so when I came to work the next day, I talked with my coworker about the idea and told him.  He kind of chuckled and said, “that would be funny…”

Later that week, the owner of the dealership came up to me and said, did you hear about the funny idea Aaron had?  I said, “no, what is it…” and he repeated to me my idea word for word…

You know what’s worse?  Every day for months, I had to carry that sign out to the corner and put it up knowing it was my idea and he got the credit for it….

What do you do in situations like that?

b

How does your ego handle it when the credit you’re supposed to get goes to someone else?

Today, we’re going to jump back into the life of John the Baptist for a moment and look at a moment when he was faced with something similar.

Jn 3:22-36

22 After this, 

This is after Jesus’ conversation with Nicodemus that we’ve just spent time on.

Jesus and his disciples went out into the Judean countryside, where he spent some time with them, and baptized. 

Now, John will tell us in the next chapter that it wasn’t Jesus doing the baptisms but His disciples..

23 Now John also was baptizing at Aenon near Salim, because there was plenty of water, and people were coming and being baptized. 24 (This was before John was put in prison.) 

Aenon sounds like a location, but the word actually means - the springs - so John has moved north out of the desert to the springs near Salim, Salim was up on this hill in the middle of a pretty beautiful spot and has springs surrounding it…

Jesus and John are likely baptizing fairly close to each other is the point… 

And listen to what comes of it…

25 An argument developed between some of John’s disciples and a certain Jew over the matter of ceremonial washing. 26 They came to John and said to him, “Rabbi, that man who was with you on the other side of the Jordan—the one you testified about—look, he is baptizing, and everyone is going to him.”

<