My sermon notes – 4-22-12 – Bro Gary

• Bro Gary started with a story: about the first church that he and Ms Michelle attended. On a Wednesday, they were discussing the statistics about older people less often coming to the Lord: the older they get, the fewer get saved. A certain woman was one of the most burdened for her husband’s salvation that Gary has ever seen. She called him on a Wednesda and she said she did like he had preached, and she grabbed the Altar by the horns and said “Lord, I’m not moving until you save my husband.” On Friday, he asked her “what does it feel like when you get saved?” She said “Some people don’t have any emotional response and some people jump pews. Why?” He said “Cause I just asked Jesus into my heart.” God answers prayers! It’s never too late for loved ones.

• Revelation 5:9-10 “And they sang a new song, saying, ‘Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation, and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign on the earth.”
  • It is so easy to get lost in your own little corner of the world
  • God knows you individually, and cares about your problems
  • God is working in our lives to prepare us
  • People often get too overwhelmed with trivial things and miss the Big Picture about what God is trying to do in His Kingdom
  • The Lamb that was Slain stands by the throne. He has ALL AUTHORITY and stands before the multitudes of Heaven. Only He could open the scroll
  • The contents of important scrolls were kept safe by seals (in this case 7), to prevent tampering. On the outside was the title and who has the authority to open it.
  • Jesus, the Lamb, has ALL AUTHORITY to the title and deed because He is Lord and it is RIGHTFULLY His because He is the Redeemer, the Son of God
  • ALL of heaven SANG OUT when He took the scroll
  • Oh the importance of making a JOYFUL NOISE to the Lord!!!
  • This also shows the importance of Music in the language of the heart of the Lord

• Story about Bro Gary’s in laws (Nana & Popi) 50’s anniversary celebration. It was a song service. He said memories flooded. How often when various relatives were at deaths door family would gather around the bedside, talk about the Lord and sing. Hallowing. Worshipful. THAT is music.

• THOU ART WORTHY! WORTHY IS THE LAMB! is what was sang before the throne.

1)   The WORK of the Redeemer

1.    Praise the Lamb for sinners slain – He is JUST
2.    Only by the Blood of the Lord Jesus – He makes a way
3.    “I’ve come by the way of the cross” song lyrics
4.    Easter was recently – the work He did on the cross
5.    The work He did / the cross / Blood is the only way we are Redeemed

2)   The WORTHY POSITION of the Redeemer

1.     Jesus was fore ordained to die for us
2.     Only HE could open the scrolls

3)   The IDENTITY of the Redeemed

1.     God is in the business of saving people
2.     People from all over the world

4)    The COMMONALITY of the Redeemed

1.     Christ does the saving
2.     We all come by the way of the cross
3.     All are ONLY saved by the blood of the Lamb
4.     We are ALL sinners in need of a savior
5.     Jesus came for ALL and made a way for us to be redeemed
6.     We all come by through the blood

5)   The DIVERSITY of the Redeemed

1.     Every kindred, tongue, people, nation – ALL around the world
2.     If you are not going and telling others about Him, you are NOT being obedient
3.     We are commanded to spread the Gospel
4.     We have to get the message out
5.     God is in the business of saving people
6.     It is not just Baptists –it is EVERYONE of any denomination who claims Christ

i.      Story about the Bibles being printed in the Kurdish language. They are very accepting of Americans since America killed Hussein. They are meeting with people and helping copy the Bible into Kurdish. They take the Bible on horseback and take it into Iran, Iraq and Turkey. Twenty-two people in the past year have been beheaded because they were caught with the Bible. We need to see the world the way God sees it.

6)   The CHALLENGE for the Redeemed

1.   In the book of Matthew, Jesus said go preach into all the world, then shall the End of the Age Come
2.    We are told to go and tell so that they can be saved
3.    Once it is into ALL areas of the world, He will come back
4.    There are 12,000 different people groups
5.    There are 6,000 under engaged people groups
6.    There are 3,000 unreached and under engaged people groups

• How big is your personal world?
• What are you doing to advance His Kingdom?
• How big is the world for our church?
• People get all bend out of shape over where the offering plates are placed. How TRIVIAL minded!! We can’t be so inwardly focused!!
• One very carnal minded church only had 14 people. One man stood up to preach. There were 6 people against him preaching and 7 people that were for it. They should have been on their knees begging for God to deliver them from the trouble they were in
• NOTHING MATTERS EXCEPT JESUS!!!
• ALL THE REST OF LIFE IS TRIVIAL!!!
• IT IS NOT ABOUT WHAT WE WANT OUT OF LIFE, BUT IT IS AOBUT WHAT GOD WANTS US TO DO!!!