Don't Give Up

So yesterday I had the privilege of preaching for the second time. In the weeks leading up to the sermon I had pretty much made up my mind that I was going to speak on humility. Well by the Tuesday before the sermon God had made it pretty clear that I was supposed preach on something entirely different. I used the internet as my concordance and found an outline, some illustrations and with some help from my friend J.C. found a video clip that illustrated exactly what I was trying to say. I honestly had my doubts going in, but even before I had spoken a word, it was clear to me that what I was going to say was what a lot of people (myself included) needed to hear. The sermon is called Don't Give Up and is based on Luke 18:1-8. Don't stop the video after I stop speaking or you'll miss the video clip.

As I stated in my previous post the band Our City Sleeps was in town for The Big Night - Take Two and had agreed to bless us by leading worship. After talking with their lead singer Shaun we decided to have them do a cover of The Glorious Unseen's "Hear Our Prayers" as an invitation which was right in line with the message I gave. The invitation itself didn't make the video so I have also posted a copy of the The Glorious Unseen's video for the song below, I really encourage you to watch it and listen to the words.

Lastly I will say that this message for me was one I've lived, especially this past year. It was not necessarily one I wanted to preach, but I needed to. I needed to know that we can't give up in our prayer life. I needed to know that Jesus doesn't give us that option. I needed to know that my God is faithful, even when I am faithless and I needed to know that he always keeps his promises. I hope the message meets you were you are and you find some encouragement from it.

For those that are interested the scripture I used was Luke 18:1-8 and the points are listed below:

1. Don’t Give Up There Is Too Much At Stake (verses 1-2)
2. Don’t Give Up When Circumstances Seem to Be Against You (verse 3)
3. Don’t Give Up the Answer May Be Just Around the Corner. (verses 4-5)
4. Don’t Give up God is Working Out the Answer (verses 7-8)
5. Don’t Give Up Jesus Always Keeps His Promises (verse 8)

Song Lyric Sunday

I know some of you are looking for video of the sermon I preached this morning. I have uploaded to GodTube and it should be available as soon as they get done with whatever content reviews they need to do. If that happens tonight I will embed the video in a post and if not it will be tomorrow. I honestly do appreciate the interest.

We had The Night last night and it was actually the conclusion of The Big Night which was cut short by rain. And it really was an awesome night. Our City Sleeps and Sunday Obsession rocked out and lead worship. The Nuteenz drama team did a powerful skit that used the song Everything by Lifehouse and Kyler Barr delivered an awesome message on going into the world and making disciples. I am really in awe of were God seems to be going with The Night and other ministries of involved with and even more in awe that he lets me be a part of it.

Here's your lyric for this week:

I'm scared and I'm alone
I'm shamed and I need for you to know

I didn't say all the things that I wanted to say
And you can't take back what you've taken away
Cause I feel you, I feel you near me
I didn't say all the things that I wanted to say
And you can't take back what you've taken away
Cause I feel you, I feel you near me

Song Lyric Sunday

when the world has fallen out from under me
I'll be found in you, still standing
when the sky rolls up and mountains fall on their knees
when time and space are through
I'll be found in you

Can't we all just get along!

So another election has come and gone. Democrats won pretty much everything, so I'm sure Armegeddon is right around the corner. I have become so weary of the "I'm right" attitude of both sides that it really makes me not even want to take part in the process. It seems that as a society we have lost the ability to disagree civilly. If you know me you know I love a good discussion and if I can get under your skin I will certainly do it but at the end of the dicussion I will laugh with you, hug on your neck and still try to be the best friend I can be. It just seems to me that in our effort to be proven right we forget that there are actual people with actual emotions and feelings that are getting run over. While it was certainly my desire that the outcome last night would be different the God whom I (and alot of democrats) serve obviously had a different plan and he has this, like he has all things, in control and "under his feet." As an American I think it's awesome that this process that has served us so well for over 200 years still works. I am in awe of the fact that 40 years after Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated we are going to see an African-American president. And as my president he has my full support and respect. Whether I agree or disagree with his politics I will pray for God's will and guidance for him and for our country.

Song Lyric Sunday

Thanks to all of you for checking out the video of my sermon last week. I'll be preaching again on 11/23 for those of you that are local and would like to stop in and hear. The message from last week was something that had several months to brew, so having to have something ready in just over 4 weeks seems a bit daunting but I already have several ideas brewing and I'm sure God will make it clear in plenty of time.

Here's the lyric:

Fearful tears are running down
The pain you've laid don't speak a sound
Don't take my heart away from me
And they think I fell down, again

Preach!

Well yesterday I had the privilege of preaching at my church for the first time. I was admittedly nervous but I didn't commit any major faux pas and everyone seemed to enjoy and receive what I had to say. The video is below, it about 24 minutes long and you'll probably need to turn your speaker up to hear it but I hope you like.



There seems to be a teensy problem with playback. After a couple of minutes it abruptly stops - to remedy this, just restart it and move the play bar at the bottom of the video over to where it left off, and start it back up. There isn't any buffering if you have high speed internet.

Song Lyric Sunday

Fall asleep...
Don't fall asleep...
Don't fall asleep...
[They lied when they said that the good die young]
They lied when they said the good die young... [Woah-oh oh-oh]
They lied when they said the good die young.
Stay with me, stay with me tonight.

Artist Of The Moment

I tend to listen to a lot of bands/artists that are not exactly mainstream. They're good but for various reason you're not likely to hear them on the radio or MTV. So to give you all a feel for some of them I'm going to start featuring a different "artist of the moment" in my playlist widget. It's over there <----. Just click the play button on the widget and give a listen. Feel free to leave comments with your opinions. The first artist is Anberlin. They've been around for several years and have developed into one of my favorite bands for the fact that they do rock oh so hard. Anyway enjoy and, you never know, it may help you with a Song Lyric Sunday down the road.

Prayer Request

If you get a chance say a prayer for my sister-in-law Sherry today. She's having some pretty heavy duty surgery on her shoulder. She's been told the shoulder will be immobile for 7-10 days and the rehab could be as long as 6 months so I'm sure she'd appreciate any prayers for a speedy recovery.

Song Lyric Sunday

We can load what we own in the back of a U-haul van.
Couple modern day Moses', searchin for the promised land.
We can go four hundred miles before we stop for gas.
We can drive for a day, and then we'll take a look at the map.