Impossible is Nothing

Series: Breakout
July 27, 2008

Today is our final Breakout Sunday. The past 9 weeks we have driven through a book in the bible called Philippians. And in doing this we have been driven to face this book on it’s own terms. We have heard one thing over and over and over again- rejoice!

"Rejoice in the Lord always, I will say it again, rejoice." And Paul has said it again, and again, and again. Over and over he has called us to a life of rejoicing. Of remembering and rehearsing the boundless joys of knowing Jesus. Through Jesus there is joy inexpressible, there is peace all surpassing, there is hope all inspiring available to anyone and everyone. No matter who you are, where you are, what you’ve done, what’s been done to you, what’s in your past, what’s in your present, what’s in your future. To all who give their life to Jesus there is JOY!

Last week the passage we read ended with this encouragement- whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me- put it into practice. I love what Ben said, theology is not something think about when we’re old men sitting on a stump in the forest- theology, our understanding of God, who he is, what he’s like, what he desires, profoundly effects our life here and now. So don’t wait to get your theology straight in life. In fact, nothing could be more relevant or more important in life than to get our thinking about God straightened out. So Paul says put this stuff into practice. Put it into action! If you don’t your missing the whole point!

So here’s the question for us this morning- have you put rejoicing into practice? Are you more joyful now than 9 weeks ago? Do you have more you can rejoice in? Do you have eyes to see, ears to hear, and lips to praise God and rejoice in his goodness? I want us to examine our lives, look at the message of this book, and ask ourselves, have we moved forward into a more joy-filled life in Jesus? Because if you haven’t, you’ve kinda missed the point. And I desperately don’t want you to miss the point before we close this series. I want you to break free and breakout into the joy-filled life of knowing Jesus. I want you to sense the doors that hold you back opening up, to feel the chains that tie you down drop off, the sense the weight on your shoulders lifting off. I want you to breakout! I want you to feel like Andy…

(WARNING- this clip does have one swear word in it)


After some 20 years in Shawshank prison, enduring hardships most of us will never know or experience, after having every freedom taken away, Andy never lost hope, and he never lost strength. And he finally broke out. Have you ever had that experience?

I was the baby in my family. My older brother, like all older brothers, became an expert in taunting and torture… He knew the best way to get to me, to freak me out, to break me down. It only happed at sleepovers and camping out, because it involved a sleeping bag, and some of you already know what I’m talking about. He would shove me into the bag and hold the opening closed. It was brilliant. He didn’t have to say anything, he didn’t even have to hit me. IN fact, talking would have only provided some comfort in hearing his voice. Hitting me would have been the assurance of his touch. No, he’d just hold it shut, and I was trapped, and I would break. But then finally, after all the yelling and screaming and writhing, the top would be opened, the light would break in, and I would break free. That's the kindof freedom and release god wants to give you in Jesus.

Paul, the author of Philippians, has saved the best for last in his letter, and I have saved the best for last with you today. He wants to tell them a secret, and who doesn’t love a secret? I mean, we love secrets, we whisper secrets, we work to hid secrets and we treasure secrets. But here Paul wants to shout a secret from the mountaintop. It’ s a secret he want them the to know, he wants us to know, he wants the whole world to know. Here he shares with them what is perhaps the greatest lesson any one of us could ever learn. The lesson we all long to know. The lesson that would and will, if we get it right, bring to us the ability to rejoice in any and all circumstances, the lesson that brings true contentment. 4:10-13

10I rejoice greatly in the Lord that at last you have renewed your concern for me. Indeed, you have been concerned, but you had no opportunity to show it. 11I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. 12I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. 13I can do everything through him who gives me strength.

I want you to understand the man who writes these words. That this is not just some feel-good encouragement, empty words without the experience of life. I want you to know that you can believe in the words of Paul, because you can believe in the life of Paul. He is not trying to scam them. He did not wrote them to get money from them, he writes them after they have sent a messenger to him, a man who almost died to bring Paul resources so he could live, but more, encouragement from the people in Philippi. What does Paul have to gain in writing these words- nothing except sharing the greatest life lessons he has ever learned.

Paul was born a man named Saul. And as he told us earlier in this letter, he was born with the right pedigree. He was a Jew, a child of the nation of Israel. Not in part, but full. But not only that, a Jew among Jews, born of the favored tribe of Benjamin. Born into a religiously devote family. A disciple of Gamaliel. He became a Pharisee, committed to religious practice of Israel. To keeping every single law of Moses in the Old Testament. Committed to keeping every single tradition that was passed down through the ages.

Saul knew about this Jesus Christ, and his followers, and the story that was going around that Jesus rose from the dead. He believed Jesus was just another in a long line of false prophets and made-up messiahs. And he knew, that the followers of Jesus were at threat to everything he believed in, because the Jesus movement didn’t die with Jesus’ crucifixion, but began to take on new strength. Saul decided that he would be the one to fix this situation, to destroy the church, and the disciples of Jesus.

Like a cowboy given a badge and license to kill, Paul received the blessing and authority from the religious leaders to do what ever it took, whatever it took, to destroy the church. Our introduction to Saul came at the stoning to death of young Stephen, where he gave his stamp of approve to the mob. With one kill under his belt that we know, with his badge and his pistol, he set out in hot pursuit. He was on his way up to a place called Damascus to arrest the Christians there. Along the way a light broke forth from the heavens, and Saul fell to the ground. A voice said to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?”

“Who are you Lord?” Saul asked. “I am Jesus.” The voice said. “Now get up and go to the city where I will show you what to do.” Blinded by the light, Saul went to Damascus where for three days he did not eat or drink. Meanwhile, Jesus came to a believer named Ananias, and told him to go to Saul, to pray for him and to restore his sight. Ananias was confused. He had heard of the murderous threats breathed out by Saul. But Jesus told him that Saul was his chosen vessel to take the good news of Jesus beyond the walls of the Jewish culture, and to whole world. And that he would suffer for the name of Jesus. Ananias went, he prayed, Saul’s sight was restored, he immediately began to preach the message that Jesus truly was and is the son of God, crucified for our sins, risen to new life, reigning in heaven, and coming again. He told all people that all who put their belief in Jesus will be saved! Over approximately the next 30 years Paul went on three missionary journeys and planting church after church after church throughout the Middle East, Asia, the Mediterranean, and into Europe. He wrote 13 of the letters in our New Testament, half of our New Testament letters. He performed miracles, he raised the dead. And just like God promised, he suffered for the name of Jesus.

Paul lived his life in the face of death for the cause of Christ. In another portion of the New Testament, in 2 Corinthians 11 Paul is put in a position where he must defend himself, and his ministry. So he tell tells his story. Five times he received the 40 lashes minus one, which was simply and expression to say they would beat someone so terrible, that if they would be hit one more time, they would die. Three times he was attacked with sticks. One he was stoned by a mob, just like the one that killed Stephen. Three times he was shipwrecked and spent more than a whole day and night floating in the open sea. He could not go anywhere and escape danger- he was chased through the cities, he was hunted down in the country. He was pursued by Jews and gentiles alike, by bandits, robbers and thieves. He had gone with out food, with out water, stripped down naked and left for dead by the side of the road. He was thrown in prison. And as if all this wasn’t enough, the greatest weight he carried, the heaviest burden on his shoulders, was his love for the church, for the other believers in Christ. Seeing other Christians suffer, seeing the church mess things up, seeing Christians fight with one another- this, more than anything he endured in his body, brought him pain.


So when Paul says to us in our passage, I know, I know what it is like to have plenty, and I know what it’s like to be in need. I know hunger, and I know thirst, I know pain, and I know suffering. I know what it’s like to be locked up and chained down, he is not waxing eloquent about a few hardships or a missing a meal. He says this out of the immense amount of pain and suffering he has endured. So he, more than another else, more than any of us, has the authority to tell us something, to teach us something, to share with us how he has gotten through. And he has learned the secret to being content, to being filled with joy in any and all circumstances-

Paul discovered the secret of the joy filled life, the secret that brings contentment that overrides all outward circumstances. And with all due respect, the secret is not the law of attraction. The secret is not to know what you want and to imagine the universe giving it to you. The secret it not to believe it then receive it. The secret is not a catchy title and a massive marketing and packaging machine. The secret is not secret at all. The secret is that in a relationship with God through Jesus Christ is everything we could ever want or need, hope or dream, ask or desire. It is the deep and abiding contentment that comes through life in Jesus. It is the strength that we can have to do anything and everything God calls us to do, through the one who call us his own, Jesus Christ.

I can do everything, everything through him who gives me strength.
You can do everything through him who gives you strength.
We can do everything through him who gives us strength.
Impossible is nothing.

No prison can hold us captive. No chains can tie us down. No weight can crush our soul. When we give our lives to Jesus, he takes our life, and he will give us the strength to do anything and everything he calls us to do. He will give us strength to overcome all obstacles in our path. He will give us the courage to weather every storm that comes our way. He will give s

Learn this secret. Learn this lesson. Because first, we see here that contentment is a learned condition. A learned state. It’s a lesson that far too many never take to heart. That it is a learned lesson is why some people have everything the world has to offer, but never rejoice in anything; and why other people have nothing in the world, but always rejoice over everything. And lest we glamorize suffering, some people have nothing and never rejoice, and some people have much, and do rejoice. It’s a lesson, it’s a lesson learned and Paul is inviting us to learn it sooner rather than later. It’s a relationship that God is inviting us into.

I can do everything through Christ who gives me strength. Quit looking to the things of this world to find your contentment, to find your joy. You’ll never find it that way. There will always be a better car, a bigger house. You’ll keep collecting stuff, and none of it will bring you true joy and contentment.

Quit looking to other people. They are searching just as you are. Quit comparing yourself to others, look to Christ for your strength. There will always be someone smarter, stronger, better looking, with better grades, better credentials, a better pay cheque.

Look only to Jesus. Right here, right now, I want you to learn this secret, to embrace this strength, to start living through Jesus. Today you can find the strength you need in Jesus to pull your marriage back together. You can find the strength to tell your spouse what it is you’ve been afraid to say for so long. You can confess that mistake, you can reveal that secret. You can tell that you love them, you can renew your commitment to make things work. You can get help, you can work it out, you can find the strength.

Today you can know the strength to move on if you marriage has already ended. You can pick up the pieces of your life, and you can start again, and you can find joy.

Today you can find the strength to love your child who has become almost unlovable to you or anyone else. You don’t have to give up on them, you don’t have to throw in the towel, you don’t have to cut them loose. But you can reach out, and love them and share your strength with them.

Today you can find the strength to move past the grieving. You can lift your head, you can open your eyes, you can take the next steps in him who gives you strength. Today you can find the strength to pull your household together, by pulling them into Christ. You can find the strength to get out of debt. You can find the strength to break free from addiction. You can find the strength to throw away the bottle. You can find the strength to walk past to porn. You can find the strength to look for a new job. You can find the strength in Jesus. It’s all in Jesus. All the strength you’ll ever need, all the strength you could ever ask for. It’s all in Jesus.

Faith Workout

Series: BREAKOUT
July 6, 2008

When Robin and I were first married I was working as a campus minister. In the summers, when college was out, I would focus my work on the youth of the church. One of my favorite summer ministries, then and now, was camp. I served as director of a camp called SB2W, and it was awesome. The preparation, as you can imagine, began months in advance- interviewing and hiring staff, registration, collecting fees, securing facilities and equipment, curriculum and program development- it was a lot of hard work, but worth every minute of it. Every summer we saw kids come to know Jesus as their savior, and many more make him Lord of their lives as they grew in faith together.

But there was something else I did to get ready, something much more subtle in a way, and yet something that I had to devote hours to each week. And in many ways this would truly make or break my camp experience. Robin didn’t even notice at first, but then she began to notice subtle changes in me. George, you seem to be going to they gym more often these days. George, your pectoral muscles seem to be huge these days, Why George, your biceps are enormous and your legs like giant oaks. OK, she may not have said all that, but she did notice the changes in me, and she was right, in the weeks before summer camp part of my preparation getting in the best physical shape I could be in. So she asked, why do you spend so much time working out and getting big before camp? And my answer was simple, “Robin, kids respect muscle before they respect faith.”

I know, I know, it sounds shallow and somehow less that spiritual. I should have been fasting and praying and spending extra hours in Bible study. But I make no apologies about it- I worked out my body to make an impression on those kids. I want to be able to run fast, jump high, hit the ball hard, climb the towers, and throw them around the pool like little rag dolls. And you know what, every year I saw kids lives changed. Every year kids came to respect me as the camp director, as and athlete, as a strong male that they could look up to, and in time, many of them came to look up to me as a man of faith.

I worked out my body to will and to act according the purpose of camp. And the principle still stands, and it stands for all of us. If you want huge pectoral muscles, you have to hit the gym. If you want to hit the ball like Tiger Woods, you have to hit the course. If you want to hit a baseball like Barry Bonds, you have to take steroids. If you want to be a person of strength or speed or any skill, you have to work it out. No athlete gets to the Olympics or the top of their game by natural ability or dumb luck. They work. They wake up at 4 am and hit the ice or the gym or the track while the rest of us are sleeping. And later in the day when we are goofing off or playing video games, they are working out in their sport and with their teammates.

You’ve heard the old expression; success is 10% inspiration and 90% perspiration. They may have been born with more natural ability, or given some opportunities we were, but they worked it out. They paid their dues in blood and sweat and tears, hour after hour, year after year. I was told that someone once said to Arnold Palmer in an off-handed remark, I’d give anything to hit the ball like you. Arnie didn’t let it slip by; he stopped and called his bluff. He said no you wouldn’t. You wouldn’t give anything to hit like me because you aren’t giving anything to hit like you. You don’t wake up before sunrise. You don’t hit 1000 golf balls before your first round. You don’t play a second round. You don’t hit 1000’s more golf balls in the evening. You don’t eat, sleep, live and breath golf the way I do. You haven’t given anything to hit the ball the way I do.

And the same goes for faith. IF you want to be a person of faith, a man or a woman of God, you have to work it out. If you want to know the will of God, you have to work it out. It’s about 10% inspiration, and 90% hard work. I’d love to tell you the opposite, I’d love to tell you that 90% of my life and faith is absolute inspiration. Every time I open my Bible beams of light shine up on my face. Every time I pray I hear God’s voice calling my name. Every night I go to bed and have a dream that tells my future. Every time I go for a swim the clouds part and the Holy Spirit descends from heaven, and it almost gets to be a nuisance how my life is so inspired.

Folks, working out our faith is a lot like working out our bodies. Hours of hard work for one moment of glory. Hours in the gym for an ounce of respect. Hours in the Bible for God’s word to soak in. Hours in prayer to start to hear God’s voice. Hours in worship, and sometimes only a few minutes of emotion and true inspiration. But just like those athletes, without the hours of work, they will never have the moment on the podium. And without the hours and work of our faith, we will not have the moment when it all comes together.

But here’s the great thing- don’t miss this: we work out our faith with fear and trembling as God works out his purpose in us. IF this verse is telling us anything, it’s telling us that we are on a two way street with God. WE are in this loving dynamic relationship that is a process of give and take, our work and God’s. On our part, we continue in OBEDIENCE. And in so doing, we WORK OUT our faith with fear and trembling. On God’s part, he WORKS in us to WILL and to ACT according to his purpose.

Now all of us have decisions to make. We make decisions everyday, all day long. Most of them are relatively inconsequential. Do I have the corn flakes or the Rice Krispies for breakfast? Do I wear my boots or my runners? Do I fill up with gas now, or wait until the next exit? For most of these decisions we do not consult God, or open our Bibles. However, I will say that small decisions, over a long period of time, can lead to major situations. The decision to have that Tim’s donut everyday with your coffee can add up in pounds and inches.

But in the midst of the small decisions, nearly all of us have larger decisions weighing on our minds. In fact I bet everyone here has some very significant decision to make in the near future. Maybe you’ve been putting it off, maybe it’s right upon you. Where am I going to go to school next year? Is this really what I want to be studying? Do I really see this relationship going anywhere, and do I like where it’s going? DO I really want to quit my job? Do I really want to take this new job and move my family? Some of these decisions will changes our lives forever. Some of these decisions we cannot help but approach with fear and trembling because we know just how important they really are. These are the decision for which we actively and even desperate seek God’s guidance. And we have this assurance from the Bible- God works in us to will and act according to his purpose. God is working on our behalf.

How do we work with Him? We W.A.T.C.H. for God’s will to be revealed.

Now I certainly did not invent these points we’re about to cover. I came up with the acronym, but others before me, and scripture before them, revealed that these are the five ways that God speaks to us and works in us. These are the five ways that God works in us to change our will and actions. Five ways at our disposal to discern the will of God. God may use one, a combination, or for major decisions, all five.

WORD of God
The first way we work out God’s will- in the WORD of God. The Bible. The Bible is our constant companion and source to know and follow the will of God. The Bible is literally God’s manual for living. It is his testimony to us of redemptive history, that is, how he has worked out salvation for his people, for us, over the span of human existence. It answers the most basic questions of life and the search for meaning.

How awesome that we have all the most basic and general questions of life answered for us, written down and available right at our fingertips. You want to know God’s will on any number of issue- just go to the book. You want to know how to be saved- work it out in the book. You want to know how to make a marriage work- work it out in the book. You want to know how to use your money- work it out in the book. It’s all there folks. Now there’s now way you could really study this, but I’m going to go out on limb here and say that for most of us, and most of our lives, we can know about 90% of God’s will and purpose for our salvation. I say that because so much of what God desires for us has been made so clear in his word that with nothing else we can live our lives and move forward with such confidence.

Now how are you going to find that 90%? Regular, methodical study. The consistent study and application of his word to our lives so that we know we are living and abiding by its authority. And the more we regularly read scripture, the more we’ll discover how relevant and applicable it is. It’s amazing how often when we star our day in His word, how later that same day, God will use that passage of just a verse- in our lives or is someone else’s.

I say this because far too many Christians use the Bible as a Ouiji Board. We don’t ask our question and open it up and expect to find the answer. At times God will use his word in such a supernatural way, but don’t live by the exception. The bible is our sword, a double-edged knife, it is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness. Why? So that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work!

ATTENTIVE Prayer
Second, we work out God’s will through ATTENTIVE prayer. By taking the time to pray, and listen for his voice to guide and direct. Jesus tells is that his sheep will recognize his voice. And the only way to recognize his voice is to know his voice by the power of the Holy Spirit living in us. All of us have voices that we recognize instantly. Even more, there are some voices that we almost have a supernatural ability to hear. I’m telling you, when I sit up here in front of the church I can hear my daughters Karis’ voice like she’s sitting next to me. Actually, that’s not a good example because I think everyone here can hear my daughter Karis like she sitting next to you- but you know what I mean.

IF we want to work out God will we must give time to attentive prayer, both speaking and listening for the voice of God. It may come as a voice. Often is comes as strong conviction, or a feeling down in your bones. Sometimes it is impressed upon us very quickly, others will find it growing over time. In the Bible God spoke to his servants through an audible voice, through angels, through visions and dreams. The fact is that God speaks to us through his Holy Spirit in different ways, but he is in fact speaking if only we’ll take the time to listen and learn his voice. In everything, through prayer and petition, bring your requests before God.

THINKING it Through
Third we work out God’s will by THINKING it through. There’s nothing complicated about this one folks- God gave us brains, and never tells us to stop using them. In fact, he commands us to use them. Now don’t take this the wrong way, but sometimes discerning God’s will isn’t an in depth spiritual exercise. If you feel God is leading you to jump off a cliff, without a rope or parachute, well let me tell you, he probably isn’t. That sounds silly, but people have told me the silliest, most outrageous things that they thought God was telling them to do and called it a leap of faith- no, it was a leap of foolishness! If you believe God is telling you to leave your family and have and affair- he isn’t. If you feel God is leading you to a new job, but you think you’ll have to lie or cheat or not fully disclose or spread a rumor about the other person up for the job, he isn’t. If you feel God is telling you to marry someone that isn’t a Christian, unless you’re the prophet Hosea, he isn’t!

Romans 12 tells us to be transformed by the renewing of our minds- then we will be able to test and approve what God’s will is- his good, pleasing and perfect will. That verse alone is a whole sermon- and it illustrates the point beyond a shadow of a doubt- that God gave us brains for a reason and wants us to use them- so Christians- start using them more!

COUNSEL of the Saints
Forth, we work out God’s will by seeking the COUNSEL of the church. While not putting the weight of a decision on anyone but ourselves and seeking first God’s counsel, we must seek the counsel of the people of God. Talk to your spouse and your family, talk to folks in your small group, talk to your pastors, talk to other trusted Christian friends, talk to others that might have a unique insight or experience in the area of your decision. As important as the Bible, prayer, and thinking it through is, don’t’ go this alone. Seek Godly counsel.

And when you do, tell the whole story, not just the parts that sound good or will bias another opinion in the way you want it to go. Truly Godly counsel is a rare and blessed thing. When you find someone that will be completely honest with you, that will you the truth, will want God’s best in your life, not your best for your life, don’t ever let that person go. But go to them, talk with them, listen to them, and heed their counsel.

HAND of God
And finally, we work out God’s will by the HAND of God. What do I mean by that? Simply put, for Christ followers we have the undeniable assurance that God is in control and will at times supernaturally work things together by his hand to guide our path and show us his will. God will use his hand to open doors and shut doors, to direct and redirect our path.

The problem is see with too many is that they reverse the order. So often we want something miraculous to happen to guide and direct our life, to make the decision for us. But that’s not working out our salvation. That’s not letting God work out his plan and purpose in our lives. I’m convinced that the hand of God most often works in conjunction with all these other elements. That the hand of God shows itself undeniably when all the other work is in place.

If God were to try to guide and direct you, but you had no biblical knowledge, no prayer life, no trusted Godly friends to help you thinking it through and pray with you, I don’t believe we’ve given God the space to show his hand at work. Don’t put the cart before the horse- do the work, and then see how it plays out in the field- see what God does to bring it all together.

There have been times in my life, and perhaps times in your life, when it was simply amazing to watch and experience God’s hand working and orchestrating events, people, phone calls, Bible study, everything, coming together in a way that his will was so obvious is was almost smacking you upside the face.

Church planting is like the extreme sport of Christian ministry and working our God plan and purpose. It has truly been amazing to WATCH and see what God has been doing to build his church- and that is what he does- he has been building his church and continues to build. On my part I keep in His word, in prayer, in study and thought, in conversation with as many people as possible. But in the end it’s amazing to see God’s hand bring people, bring gifts, bring opportunities our way…

IF you have a decision to make- and you do. If you have a salvation to work out, and you do- do it with fear and trembling- do it with the confidence that it is God who is working in you to will and act for His plans and purpose. WATCH for it- in God’s Word, in Attentive prayer, by Thinking it through, with the Counsel of the church, and trusting in His Hand to bring it all together.