In It For The Long Haul

September 20, 2015

Stetson Memorial United Methodist Church

Summer Sermon Series:

“Revive Us Again O Lord!”

Adapted from “Revival” by Adam Hamilton

Theme: Persevering To The End…

All Scriptures are from the NIV Bible

Romans 5:1-5

James 1:2-6

James 5:7-11

“In It For The Long Haul?”

Prayer for God’s Word to be heard through me…

When I answered “YES” to God’s call to be a pastor, I really never thought all that I needed to do to follow that call. First I had to go back to school. Now I hadn’t had the greatest experience with college in the past. But here I was, 20 some odd years later needing to go back to school. I now had, 3 daughters that were very young and needed mom, a new husband, and a feeling of not being good enough…thanks to my ex. So here I am on my first day of school and I thought to myself…what the heck am I doing here. I am too old to go back to school. There was many times I almost just quit school. But with the encouragement of my family…I persevered. I even graduated Suma Cum Luda. It was so hard but I persevered and came out the other side more than I thought I could be.

Here we are at the end of our summer of “Camp Meetings”. It has been an interesting journey to say the least as we have been intentional with God and our Spirit. We have asked God to bring revival to our lives and to our communities…to the world. We have trusted and implored Him to awaken that which may have fallen asleep. We have removed some of those rocks that weigh us down and separate us from the relationship God wants us to have with Him. We have understood that we are saved by grace alone. We long for holiness for we want to be holy as God has called us to be.

We know that the love and gratefulness we feel for God causes us to want to do the good works He has ordained for us…those “works of mercy” we talked about last week. But most of all, we have discovered that it all begins with the way we answer the question “Do You Believe”.

The last piece of revival is one that will probably be the hardest. We must persevere… But how are we supposed to persevere in the world in which we live? There are so many things that are against our spiritual selves that feed into our fleshly selves…

Let’s look at some scripture about perseverance and see what it tells us.

Romans 5:1-5 Peace and Joy

1 Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. 3 Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4 perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5 And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.

*Speak from the Spirit… ( See video of Sermon for this part of what was preached)

James 1:2-6 Trials and Temptations

2 Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. 4 Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. 5 If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. 6 But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.

*Speak from the Spirit… ( See video of Sermon for this part of what was preached)

James 5:7-11 Patience in Suffering

7 Be patient, then, brothers, until the Lord's coming. See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop and how patient he is for the autumn and spring rains. 8 You too, be patient and stand firm, because the Lord's coming is near. 9 Don't grumble against each other, brothers, or you will be judged. The Judge is standing at the door! 10 Brothers, as an example of patience in the face of suffering, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. 11 As you know, we consider blessed those who have persevered. You have heard of Job's perseverance and have seen what the Lord finally brought about. The Lord is full of compassion and mercy.

*Speak from the Spirit… ( See video of Sermon for this part of what was preached)

With all that we have talked about and learned over the past 6 weeks it should be easy to have revival…right? Not really. But maybe if we just begin…taking those baby steps…we will begin a movement within ourselves. As we begin that movement within ourselves, maybe…just maybe…our churches will begin to recapture the things they may have lost. And maybe if the church recaptures its vision…have restored eyesight…maybe it can go out into its communities with a renewed passion. And as this passion grows perhaps there will truly be a revival of God’s people and Christ’s church. But it begins with you and me. It really is that simple…

Amen…