'WRESTLING WITH THE WORD'

Rev. Juliet Schimpf By Rev. Juliet Schimpf     ___________________________ Broadcast Notes

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LINK to CFRA broadcast of Sunday, June 7^th, 2015) 

http://proxy.autopod.ca/podcasts/chum/6/32938/good_news_160_june07.mp3

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'Wrestling with the Word'

PSALM 119

(Reference: Psalm119 (NIV) - Bible Gateway)

1.       SITUATING OUR SUFFERING

2.      SURRENDERING OUR SUFFERING

3.      SHINING THROUGH OUR SUFFERING

1.       SITUATING OUR SUFFERING

We as Christians are “between two worlds”—“between two worlds”—“already….not yet”

“In this world you will have trouble.  But take heart!  I have overcome the world.”  (Jesus Christ; John 16:33)

On the one hand, Christ has ushered in the Kingdom of God; Christ is reconciling all things to Himself and making all things new

On the other hand, we still live in a broken world—one full of pain and sorrow:

ROMANS 8:  “For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now.  And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.”

THE MESSAGE:  verse 81:  “I’m homesick—longing for your salvation; I’m waiting for your word of hope.”

2.      SURRENDERING OUR SUFFERING

“You are blessed when you find yourself at the end of your rope.”  (The Beatitudes; The Message Translation)

C.S. LEWIS:  “We can ignore even pleasure. But pain insists upon being attended to. God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pains: it is his megaphone to rouse a deaf world.”

Martin Luther:  “[Trials] teach you not only to know and understand but also to experience how right, how true, how sweet, how lovely, how mighty, how comforting God’s word is:  it is wisdom supreme.” 

CS Lewis  “If you think of this world as a place intended simply for our happiness, you find it quite intolerable: think of it as a place for correction and it's not so bad.”

Anne Lamott:  “The opposite of faith is not doubt; it is certainty.” 

3.      SHINING THROUGH OUR SUFFERING

2 CORINTHIANS 4  “7But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. 8We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; 9persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. 10We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. 11For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that his life may be revealed in our mortal body.

God is not as concerned about my comfort as He is about my character.

RICK WARREN:  “Since God intends to make you like Jesus, he will take you through the same experiences Jesus went through. That includes loneliness, temptation, stress, criticism, rejection, and many other problems.”

NIV ROMANS 5:³ Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; ⁴ perseverance, character; and character, hope. ⁵ And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.

Conclusion

DIETRICH BONHOEFFER:  “Only a suffering God can help”—God is not indifferent to human tragedy and pain—We have a God who can relate to us! 

“Earth has no sorrow that heaven cannot heal.”  (Thomas Moore)

Let us pray:

Our Heavenly Father, We thank you that you are the God of all comfort, and my prayer, this hour, is that you would pour out fresh comfort to every listener today.

Every listener is experiencing suffering in some form, be it persecution, be it poverty, be it sickness, be it worry, be it fear. And my prayer, Lord, is that every listener today will situate their suffering in the Word of God; that they will surrender their suffering to the Word of God, and that they will shine through their suffering with the help of the Word of God.

Lord, I thank you that we have your glorious promise: namely, that we have your treasure in our jars of clay, and although we may be pressed, we are not crushed. Although we are persecuted, we are never abandoned. And, although we may be struck down, we are not destroyed.

We thank you Lord, that although our mortal bodies are fading day by day, yet, your resurrection light lives within us.

Help us to shine for your glory. Help the world to see that you are real and that suffering can be overcome, through the love and grace of your glorious Son, Jesus Christ.

In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, AMEN.

Rev. Juliet Schimpf

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To listen to the above broadcast, click on the following link:

http://proxy.autopod.ca/podcasts/chum/6/32938/good_news_160_june07.mp3

'DEALING WITH THE STRESS OF DAILY LIVING'

Rev. Juliet Schimpf By Rev. Juliet Schimpf    Rev. Juliet Schimpf  is the Minister of  First Baptist  Church in Perth, Ontario: http://www.perthareachurches.ca/baptist_perth_A.htm

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LINK to CFRA broadcast of Sunday, May 5^th, 2013)

http://proxy.autopod.ca/podcasts/chum/6/13004/good_news_051_may05.mp3

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Broadcast Notes:

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'Dealing With the Stress of Daily Living'

Stress carries several negative health consequences, including heart disease, stroke, high blood pressure, as well as immune and circulatory complications¹. Exposure to stress can also contribute to behaviours such as smoking, over-consumption of alcohol, and less-healthy eating habits².

In 2011, 23.6% of Canadians aged 15 and older reported that most days were 'extremely or quite a bit stressful,' up from 22.3% in 2008.

Females (25%) reported that most days were quite a bit or extremely stressful, compared with males (22.2%) [STATISTICS CANADA]

‎ 

HENRY KISSINGER  "There cannot be a stressful crisis next week. My schedule is already full.”

WHAT WOULD JESUS DO?

WE WILL LOOK AT THE SECOND MOST STRESSFUL DAY IN THE LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST—MARK 6

HEBREWS 4:15  “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin.”

1.       Sometimes you stay

2.      Sometimes you pray

3.      Sometimes you get away

1.       Sometimes you stay

MARK 6

JESUS CHRIST’S DAY BEGAN IN THE WORST POSSIBLE WAY

When his daughter Herodias^* came in and danced, she pleased Herod and his guests; and the king said to the girl, ‘Ask me for whatever you wish, and I will give it.’ ²³And he solemnly swore to her, ‘Whatever you ask me, I will give you, even half of my kingdom.’²⁴She went out and said to her mother, ‘What should I ask for?’ She replied, ‘The head of John the baptizer.’ ^{……………… 29}When his disciples heard about it, they came and took his body, and laid it in a tomb.

JESUS IS GRIEF-STRICKEN!

Imagine losing the one person who knows you better than anyone else, and you will feel what Jesus is feeling…. Consider your reaction if you were told that your best friend had just been decapitated by a people-pleasing, incestuous monarch, and you’ll see how the day begins for Christ. His world is beginning to turn upside down.

THEN, JESUS IS FACED WITH A THREAT!

The emissaries brought more than news of sorrow, however; they brought a warning: “The same Herod who took John’s head is interested in yours.” Listen to how Luke presents the monarch’s madness: “Herod said, ‘I beheaded John. Who, then, is this I hear such things about?’ And he tried to see him” (emphasis mine). Something tells me that Herod wanted more than a social visit. 

So, with John’s life taken and his own life threatened, Jesus ATTEMPTS TO GET AWAY!

30 The apostles gathered around Jesus, and told him all that they had done and taught. 

The disciples return exuberant. Jesus had commissioned them to proclaim the gospel and authenticate it with miracles. “They went out and preached that people should repent. They drove out many demons and anointed many sick people with oil and healed them.”  Can you imagine the excitement? Can you envision the scene? A reunion of twelve friends. A reuniting of disciples with their teacher. A homecoming bubbling with testimonies: 

^{• Peter describing a lame man he healed.• John telling of a crowd he taught. • Andrew recounting the deliverance of an epileptic.• James relating to Jesus how the crowds followed him wherever he went.• Matthew reporting the healing of a blind woman.}

³¹He said to them, ‘Come away to a deserted place all by yourselves and rest a while.’ For many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat. 

³²And they went away in the boat to a deserted place by themselves. ³³Now many saw them going and recognized them, and they hurried there on foot from all the towns and arrived ahead of them. 

GOD THE FATHER’S HEART BEATS IN JESUS CHIRST

GOD THE FATHER’S PRIORITIES TAKE OVER

JESUS BECOMES FLEXIBLE WITH HIS SCHEDULE

³⁴As he went ashore, he saw a great crowd; and he had compassion for them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd; and he began to teach them many things. 

WHEN IT SAYS, “HE HAD COMPASSION FOR THEM”—The greek word for “compassion” in this passage is SPLANCHNIZOMAI……”SPLANCHNOLOGY” is a study of the visceral parts or, in contemporary jargon, a study of the gut….Mark is saying that Jesus felt their hurt in his gut: 

·         the loneliness of the leper

·         the embarrassment of the sinful

·         the pain of the sick

Jesus was moved in the stomach by their needs.  He was so touched by their needs that he forgot his own needs.  He was so moved by the people’s hurts that he put his hurts on the back burner.

God brings hurting people into your world:  All solitude + no service = selfishness. 

³⁵When it grew late, his disciples came to him and said, ‘This is a deserted place, and the hour is now very late; ³⁶send them away so that they may go into the surrounding country and villages and buy something for themselves to eat.’ ³⁷But he answered them, ‘You give them something to eat.’

2.      sometimes you pray!

DESPITE HIS BUSYNESS, JESUS TAKES TIME TO PRAY

PRAYER IS A RE-FUELLING AGENT

⁴¹Taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven, and blessed and broke the loaves, and gave them to his disciples to set before the people; and he divided the two fish among them all. ⁴²And all ate and were filled; ⁴³and they took up twelve baskets full of broken pieces and of the fish. ⁴⁴Those who had eaten the loaves numbered five thousand men.

I got up one morning 
   and rushed right into the day. 
I had so much to accomplish 
   that I dodn't have time to pray.
Problems tumbled about me 
   and harder came each task. 
"Why doesn't God help me?" I wondered. 
   He answered, "You didn't ask."
I wanted joy and beauty, 
   but the day was gray and bleak, 
I wondered why God didn't show me, 
   He said, "You didn't seek."
I tried to come into God presence; 
   I used all my keys at the lock. 
God gently and lovingly said, 
   "My child, you didn't knock."
I woke up early this morning, 
   and paused before starting the day. 
I had so much to accomplish 
   that I had to take time to pray.

3.      sometimes you get away

AT OTHER TIMES JESUS IS NOT FLEXIBLE ABOUT HIS SCHEDULE

45 Immediately he made his disciples get into the boat and go on ahead to the other side, to Bethsaida, while he dismissed the crowd.

·         John indicates that the people were ready to take Jesus by force and make him king (John 6), and so Jesus slipped away to pray!

⁴⁶After saying farewell to them, he went up on the mountain to pray.

·         he said no to the important in order to say yes to the vital.

·         He said no to a good opportunity in order to say yes to a better opportunity.

·          “Blessed are the meek,” Jesus said. The word meek does not mean weak. It means focused. It is a word used to describe a domesticated stallion. Power under control. Strength with a direction.  Blessed are those who are harnessed. Blessed are those who recognize their God-given responsibilities. Blessed are those who acknowledge that there is only one God and have quit applying for his position. Blessed are those who know what on earth they are on earth to do and set themselves about the business of doing it. Blessed are those who are able to “discern what is best.”

RELIGION WILL BURN YOU OUT!

RELATIONSHI WITH GOD WILL REFUEL YOU!

MATTHEW 11:^28-30 “Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.”

⁴⁷ Later that night, the boat was in the middle of the lake, and he was alone on land. ⁴⁸ He saw the disciples straining at the oars, because the wind was against them. Shortly before dawn [about the fourth watch of the night—3 am to 6 am]—he went out to them, walking on the lake. He was about to pass by them, ⁴⁹ but when they saw him walking on the lake, they thought he was a ghost. They cried out, ⁵⁰ because they all saw him and were terrified. Immediately he spoke to them and said, “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.” ⁵¹ Then he climbed into the boat with them, and the wind died down. They were completely amazed, ⁵² for they had not understood about the loaves; their hearts were hardened.⁵³ When they had crossed over, they landed at Gennesaret and anchored there. ⁵⁴ As soon as they got out of the boat, people recognized Jesus. ⁵⁵ They ran throughout that whole region and carried the sick on mats to wherever they heard he was. ⁵⁶ And wherever he went—into villages, towns or countryside—they placed the sick in the marketplaces. They begged him to let them touch even the edge of his cloak, and all who touched it were healed.

Look at this day one more times. Review what our Lord faced.

·         Intense sorrow—the death of a dear friend and relative.

·         Immediate threat—his name is on the wanted poster.

·         Immeasurable joy—a homecoming with his followers.

·         Immense crowds—a Niagara of people followed him everywhere.

·         Insensitive interruptions—he sought rest and got people.

·         Incredible demands—crowds of thousands clamored for his touch.

Will you join with me now, in prayer?

Heavenly Father, We thank you that you are a God that desires to meet with us in the stress of our daily living. And I pray, right now, for the listener who is experiencing tremendous stress in their lives. Would you comfort them with the power of your Holy Spirit? Would you fill them with the presence of Jesus Christ? And remind them throughout the week, that sometimes they need to stay in the midst of their stress, but sometimes they also need to pray and sometimes they need to flat-out get away. Thank you for the example of Jesus Christ, who teaches us all things, well. Amen.

Rev. Juliet Schimpf

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To listen to the above broadcast, click on the following link:

http://proxy.autopod.ca/podcasts/chum/6/13004/good_news_051_may05.mp3