Daring to Dream Again: Let Go… – Part 5

Let Go Of Our Painful Past—Part 5

Born to Be a Hero

Then let me review briefly a tale you know about another young man born to be a hero. He knew instinctively that this was so. In fact, he tried his own hand at doing a mighty work for the Lord, righting a grievous wrong, establishing himself as a champion for God.

Touched by the injustice he saw, he actually slew an oppressor of his people, and by doing so he became a marked man for life. There might as well have been a scar on his cheek too! Everyone knew him on sight, except maybe those at some far edge of the world. So, that’s where he fled and subsequently stayed for forty-some years. That’s until the Lord came and said, “You don’t know who you are, Moses. You were born to be one of My early heroes.”

Not ready to break the glass ceiling of his limited thinking, Moses protested.

(Ex. 3:11), “Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt? [Why, I bet my picture is still up in every post office in Egypt!]”

(Ex. 4:1): “What if they do not believe me or listen to me and say, ‘The Lord did not appear to you’? [It’s going to sound stupid when I explain that You talked to me through a bush that was on fire!]”

(Ex. 4:10): “O Lord, I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since You have spoken to Your servant. I am slow of speech and tongue. [I-I ge-get ti-ti-tired of p-p-people saying—‘Eh?’ and ‘What?’]”

(Ex. 4:13): “O Lord, [pa-pa] please send someone else to do it.”

———————————————

Sunday’s coming. Do you have your sermon ready? Is it relevant? Will it effectively motivate your congregation to walk more in step with the Master? What about that Sermon Series you’ve been thinking about?

Or, if you’re someone who plans well ahead, have you asked yourself what you will preach for your Easter Sermon, your Advent Sermon, your Christmas Sermon?

David Mains and Mainstay Ministries can help. We offer a wide variety of Sermon Starters and Full Sermons that will give you Sermon Ideas to help you prepare for regular Saturday or Sunday sermons, Mid-week Bible Sermons, and Sermons for special occasions.

We also offer assistance as you create Topical Sermons, Sermons Series, and sermons for special times of the year. We have resources available to help you with Advent Celebrations, Advent Sermons, Christmas Sermons, Easter Sunday Sermons, Patriotic Sermons, and more.

For more information on how to create better Bible Sermons and how to turn Sermon Ideas into Sermon Outlines, and then into effective, meaningful Sunday Sermons, please click here to visit David Mains’ website.

You will also find a variety of resources for pastors and congregations at the Mainstay Ministries website. Just click here.

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Daring to Dream Again: Let Go… – Part 4

Let Go Of Our Painful Past—Part 4

A painful past can often inhibit our dreams. Perhaps you’ve experienced pain such as …

  • A split of close friends within a church
  • The failure of a spiritual leader you trusted
  • Betrayal by a Christian friend you went to for help, who told others about your problem
  • An experience where you tried your best to serve the Lord, but you failed
  • Embarrassment by a harsh authority figure
  • Criticism from class members you were teaching
  • Having your best efforts sabotaged by a ruling board
  • Being left for another by your mate
  • Horrible memories of childhood abuse just now starting to surface

For me, after feeling I had failed in my inner city efforts, I was afraid to open myself to dreaming again for well over a decade. I ministered assuming something bad would happen that would undermine whatever I tried to do. My leadership style was careful and guarded. But I found in time that it wasn’t nearly as much fun serving the Lord like that. I still wanted to believe He had a dream for me that fit perfectly into what He was doing in His world.

Maybe that’s how you feel. A cacophony of voices from your past screams in your mind, “Your real name is Scarboy … or Scargirl. You’ll never make it when it comes to serving this King of yours!”

If we’’re not careful, we adopt the names others give us and forget that God calls us to be heroes, that in His eyes we are not destined to be frightened, but instead are meant to be men and women of valor.

“Come on, David,” you say. “It’s a tale for children you’re referring to, remember? This is the real world, not Great Park and Enchanted City.”

———————————————

Sunday’s coming. Do you have your sermon ready? Is it relevant? Will it effectively motivate your congregation to walk more in step with the Master? What about that Sermon Series you’ve been thinking about?

Or, if you’re someone who plans well ahead, have you asked yourself what you will preach for your Easter Sermon, your Advent Sermon, your Christmas Sermon?

David Mains and Mainstay Ministries can help. We offer a wide variety of Sermon Starters and Full Sermons that will give you Sermon Ideas to help you prepare for regular Saturday or Sunday sermons, Mid-week Bible Sermons, and Sermons for special occasions.

We also offer assistance as you create Topical Sermons, Sermons Series, and sermons for special times of the year. We have resources available to help you with Advent Celebrations, Advent Sermons, Christmas Sermons, Easter Sunday Sermons, Patriotic Sermons, and more.

For more information on how to create better Bible Sermons and how to turn Sermon Ideas into Sermon Outlines, and then into effective, meaningful Sunday Sermons, please click here to visit David Mains’ website.

You will also find a variety of resources for pastors and congregations at the Mainstay Ministries website. Just click here.

Share and Enjoy

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Daring to Dream Again: Let Go… – Part 3

Let Go Of Our Painful Past—Part 3

How have you responded to the dreams God has given you? Perhaps you’ve felt the way Hero did as he anticipated going forth to serve the King:

… This solemn assembly had been hurriedly gathered for the Rite of Adoption, for no lad could go back into Enchanted City an orphan. Orphans belonged to the evil Enchanter. Hero must be someone’s son; he must have proof of parentage to protect him.

Dread filled his soul. He thought of the darkness of Enchanted City, where the citizens worked by night and slept by day. He remembered Burning Place where the dead were burned: all who had died of weariness, of hunger, of heartsickness.

In his memory, he saw fire burning the pyre that held his mother’s body. (She had always said, “There is a King. A real King!”) Death drums began to beat in his mind: oo-mb-pha … oo-mb-pha … oo-mb-pha-din. Visions of Burners with hot brands and smoldering pokers flashed. He heard the blows of the Breakers. The song of the Naysayers, nay-nay-nay, nay-nay-nay, nay-nay-nay, clutched his heart with icy fingers.

He remembered Branding-himself a screaming five-year-old-and how the hot iron had seared his cheek. For the first time in many months, Hero touched the scar. Here, in this place among these people, he was Hero, loved by many. In that terrible place, he was nothing but scum. The people of Enchanted City would point and jeer in the old way—Scarboy! Scarboy!

S-C-A-R-B-0-Y!!

Suddenly, Hero heard a scream rise out of Enchanted City and fall into a paralyzing moan in his own soul. He raised up his head, startled. It was more than memory. Hero knew it was the voice of the evil Enchanter from the dark midst of the Dagoda, with his fiery head thrown back, with fire priests dancing and their ceremonial bells jangling: jchang-jchang-jchang.

S-C-A-R-B-0-Y!!

Hero cowered, standing outside the Circle of Flames. His heart felt like stone. The hot eye of the Enchanter had found him, here in his fear. How could he follow the King if he kept hearing this loud and terrible cry? He would be vulnerable, alone.

“Oh, Mercie,” the lad whispered to the old, old woman beside him. “I’m afraid. How will I ever find the King? You know I’m not good at recognizing disguises. I can feel the Enchanter’s hot eye, and hear the nay-din-nay-din of Enchanted City, and remember the brands and the blows and the stink of Burning Place.”

The old woman took his hand, and Hero felt the strength of her grasp. Mercie smiled. “Hero, fear is ever the Enchanter’s ally. Have you forgotten your own powerful weapons?”

———————————————

Sunday’s coming. Do you have your sermon ready? Is it relevant? Will it effectively motivate your congregation to walk more in step with the Master? What about that Sermon Series you’ve been thinking about?

Or, if you’re someone who plans well ahead, have you asked yourself what you will preach for your Easter Sermon, your Advent Sermon, your Christmas Sermon?

David Mains and Mainstay Ministries can help. We offer a wide variety of Sermon Starters and Full Sermons that will give you Sermon Ideas to help you prepare for regular Saturday or Sunday sermons, Mid-week Bible Sermons, and Sermons for special occasions.

We also offer assistance as you create Topical Sermons, Sermons Series, and sermons for special times of the year. We have resources available to help you with Advent Celebrations, Advent Sermons, Christmas Sermons, Easter Sunday Sermons, Patriotic Sermons, and more.

For more information on how to create better Bible Sermons and how to turn Sermon Ideas into Sermon Outlines, and then into effective, meaningful Sunday Sermons, please click here to visit David Mains’ website.

You will also find a variety of resources for pastors and congregations at the Mainstay Ministries website. Just click here.

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Short Weeks

If you are sensitive to the work of the Holy Spirit in your life, you should be able to identify with my brief remarks.

A good thing about having to preach every Sunday is that it doesn’t let you get used to a pattern of unchecked sinning.

When walking close to the Lord, preparing sermons is a real joy. If the delight factor suddenly stops, and the privilege of preaching starts to seem like a chore, it could be that the Spirit is trying to get your attention regarding carelessness about a certain wrong action.

What minister, after getting nowhere in a new message, hasn’t sensed the need to stop for prayer? Is something blocking the work getting done? If the Holy Spirit reveals the problem is disobedience in some area, confession is then made and the creative juices start flowing again—right?

If pastors had three or four weeks between sermons, they might not have to be quite as circumspect in the way they live. There would at least be a little extra time to get by with actions they knew shouldn’t characterize a reverend. But, with only six days between Sundays, there’s really not all that much time to get into any substantial amount of trouble.

Then again…

———————————————

Sunday’s coming. Do you have your sermon ready? Is it relevant? Will it effectively motivate your congregation to walk more in step with the Master? What about that Sermon Series you’ve been thinking about?

Or, if you’re someone who plans well ahead, have you asked yourself what you will preach for your Easter Sermon, your Advent Sermon, your Christmas Sermon?

David Mains and Mainstay Ministries can help. We offer a wide variety of Sermon Starters and Full Sermons that will give you Sermon Ideas to help you prepare for regular Saturday or Sunday sermons, Mid-week Bible Sermons, and Sermons for special occasions.

We also offer assistance as you create Topical Sermons, Sermons Series, and sermons for special times of the year. We have resources available to help you with Advent Celebrations, Advent Sermons, Christmas Sermons, Easter Sunday Sermons, Patriotic Sermons, and more.

For more information on how to create better Bible Sermons and how to turn Sermon Ideas into Sermon Outlines, and then into effective, meaningful Sunday Sermons, please click here to visit David Mains’ website.

You will also find a variety of resources for pastors and congregations at the Mainstay Ministries website. Just click here.

Share and Enjoy

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