9/15/13 Design For Life - So All Can Hear
People Need The Lord
Broken Dreams
Football Player Can’t Forget the Ball He DroppedNoble Doss dropped the ball. One ball. One pass. One mistake. In 1941, he let one fall. And it’s haunted him ever since. “I cost us a national championship,” he says.
The University of Texas football team was ranked number one in the nation. Hoping for an undefeated season and a berth in the Rose Bowl, they played conference rival Baylor University. With a 7-0 lead in the third quarter, the Longhorn quarterback launched a deep pass to a wide-open Doss.
“The only thing I had between me and the goal,” he recalls, “was twenty yards of grass.”
The throw was on target. Longhorn fans rose to their feet. The sure-handed Doss spotted the ball and reached out, but it slipped through.
Baylor rallied and tied the score with seconds to play. Texas lost their top ranking and, consequently, their chance at the Rose Bowl.
“I think about that play every day,” Doss admits.
Not that he lacks other memories. Happily married for more than six decades. A father. Grandfather. He served in the navy during World War II. He appeared on the cover of Life magazine with his Texas teammates. He intercepted seventeen passes during his collegiate career, a university record. He won two NFL titles with the Philadelphia Eagles. The Texas High School Hall of Fame and the Longhorn Hall of Honor include his name.
Most fans remember the plays Doss made and the passes he caught. Doss remembers the one he missed. Once, upon meeting a new Longhorn head coach, Doss told him about the bobbled ball. It had been fifty years since the game, but he wept as he spoke.
Max Lucado, Fearless (Thomas Nelson, 2009), pp. 31-32
Life is filled with broken dreams, hurts, heartaches. I doubt there is one person alive who hasn’t had some kind of hurt. What can do we about them? What can we do to overcome? Life is filled with problems and struggles. What is the answer?
A song written by Steve Green gives us the answer. It is not only for us, but tells us how we can help those around us who are looking for that missing piece in life.
Everyday they pass me by,
I can see it in their eye.
Empty people filled with care,
Headed who knows where?
On they go through private pain,
Living fear to fear.
Laughter hides their silent cries,
Only Jesus hears.
People need the Lord, people need the Lord.
At the end of broken dreams, He’s the open door.
People need the Lord, people need the Lord.
When will we realize --people need the Lord?
We are called to take His light
To a world where wrong seems right.
What would be too great a cost
For sharing life with one who’s lost?
Through His love our hearts can feel
All the grief they bear.
They must hear the words of life
Only we can share.
People need the Lord, people need the Lord
At the end of broken dreams, He’s the open door.
People need the Lord, people need the Lord.
When will we realize that we must give our lives,
For people need the Lord.
People need the Lord.
Luke 4:4 NKJV
4 But Jesus answered him, saying, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.’ ”
Deuteronomy 8:1-3 NKJV
1 Every commandment which I command you today you must be careful to observe, that you may live and multiply, and go in and possess the land of which the LORD swore to your fathers. 2 And you shall remember that the LORD your God led you all the way these forty years in the wilderness, to humble you and test you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not. 3 So He humbled you, allowed you to hunger, and fed you with manna which you did not know nor did your fathers know, that He might make you know that man shall not live by bread alone; but man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the LORD.
Yes, people need the Lord. Jesus really IS the answer. That is the prime reason why Cornerstone exists. I often find myself talking with someone and thinking, if you would really give your life to Jesus, He would help you turn things around.
Missions. Missions Convention. We talk about these themes often. We have an annual Missions Convention. Why? Because people need the Lord. Because the answer to the problems in the world, the answer to the violence and destruction we see all around is Jesus. I’m not talking about some kind of religious routine, but a real personal relationship with the Creator of all, the Lord Who died on the cross and rose from the grave. When a person has Jesus resident in their life, things change.
Missions is not just across the ocean. It starts as we walk out the front door. It is us, as well as those we support to go to another place. We are God’s missionaries to western Wisconsin.
A challenge for everyone right now: think (and I hope believe) -- God really wants to use ME.
Our Missions Convention theme for this year: So all can hear. It is amazing how many people who live right around us have not heard a clear message of Who Jesus is and what He has done and will do in their lives. They either have heard nothing, or have heard confusing religious words that don’t mean anything.
We read from Luke 4.
Jesus was tempted by the devil. He was tempted to use His divine power to serve his own self-interest. Being selfish is something we all deal with. Jesus was not sidetracked, He stayed focused on what He came to do.
He was tempted to gain glory and power for Himself instead of accepting the humility and suffering that he faced on the cross. Jesus took no short cuts to what He came to do.
Satan still tempts people today. He tempts Christian leaders to use their spiritual authority and position for their own personal gain and self-interest. Jesus refused the temptation because He refused to surrender to his control. Christians today must not compromise and surrender to temptation.
The victory Jesus had was in quoting the scriptures. This is still a great victory. This is why we must learn what the bible says and use it regularly. “The Bible says . . .” is still a good answer.
In response to the temptation, Jesus replied Man does not live on bread alone. Satan tempted Jesus’ physical desire after He had fasted for 40 days. Jesus never used His power for selfish reasons. Jesus resisted the temptation by stating clearly that He lived by God’s Word.
Jesus emphasized that we must seek God’s kingdom, God’s ways above anything and everything else. When do, God promises to take care of us and provide the necessary things for life.
Yes, we will face tests in life. Some of them very difficult. He wants us to learn that life does not consist only on the physical level. Our well-being depends on a close personal relationship with Jesus and consistent obedience to his Word.
One day in the synagogue, Jesus read from the prophet.
Luke 4:18-19 NKJV
18 “The Spirit of the LORD is upon Me, Because He has anointed Me To preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives And recovery of sight to the blind, To set at liberty those who are oppressed; 19 To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD.”
Jesus was empowered by the Holy Spirit, enabled to do the work of service He came to earth for.
What was the purpose of His ministry? Some answers:
He came to preach the gospel—the good news of forgiveness and salvation. Jesus came to reach those whom the world overlooks and rejects. The ones people mock and laugh at. Jesus wants “those” people.
Jesus came to bring real freedom. Sin makes people slaves and they can’t find deliverance. People are trapped by the troubles and evil in the world. Jesus is the freedom from addictions.
Jesus is also the healer. His healing covers both physical and spiritual needs. He opens the spiritual eyes blinded by the world and Satan so that they can see the truth of God’s good news. This brings true freedom from Satan’s power and from sin, fear and guilt.
It is through Jesus that we can proclaim God’s provision of every human need. WE are charged by God to continue and proclaim what Jesus taught. We can and must bring hope to a messed up world. People are enslaved to evil, brokenhearted, spiritually blind and distressed. The answer really IS Jesus.
How did we start out today? Our theme?
Design For Life - So All Can Hear
People Need The Lord
God has a design, a plan for your life. It includes being used by Him in this massive task of bringing people to know Him personally. We are responsible to help people receive God’s gift of eternal life.
ALL need to hear. This hearing starts in New Richmond and spreads around the world. So, each one must ask God how He wants to use us.
This theme must burn in our hearts. What people REALLY need is Jesus. Built on that foundation, they can see changes in life and solutions begin to come. This is founded on the ultimate solution, eternity with Jesus.
Discussion
Unique and creative ways to let people know about Jesus.
Think, identify, write your faith story. How can you use it?
Can you quickly tell a story of where Jesus was THE answer for someone?
When we really believe Jesus is the only way, what impact should that have on our lives regarding people who are lost in sin?
