Sermon Note

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Ask: Prayer of Intercession October 30, 2016 1 Timothy 2:1-4 If I could only preach one sermon….this might be it! I’ve been talking about 2 very different kingdoms. We are all deeply scripted from infancy into the Kingdom of Self. I saw that recently with my granddaughter (picture). She met another little girl who is 2 whose favorite word -= “MINE.” If others intrude on her kingdom she doesn’t like it. She doesn’t like it when mommy tells her “NO!” (If mommy doesn’t tell her “No!” – she’ll have enormous problems.) When she starts school other classmates and teachers will infringe on her territory. Later, she’ll be a motorist, will date, have a job, may get married, and may have children of her own. All during her life she will live her life deeply scripted around those words: “I, ME, MINE, & MYSELF.” Her problem is your problem and mine, too. Going to seminary and being ordained didn’t remove the KOS from me. As we made the bed the other day Dana greeted me with the news: “I have an awful sore throat. I had to get up in the middle of the night to take 2 aspirins.” Here’s my self-talk: “That’s great. Now I’m going to get a sore throat.” My 2nd thought was: “If I get a sore throat, I’ll not be able to preach on Sunday.” I can justify my KOS lack of compassion for my wife and self-centeredness in religious terms. We can justify virtually any action. Why? Because I think I’m the king of the world and life is all about me. Christians believe in a 2nd Kingdom: the Kingdom Of God. KOG was announced in the Old Testament but truly inaugurated by Jesus. Jesus invites us to enter into this other kingdom. Our culture doesn’t embrace the KOG – John Lennon’s “Imagine there’s no heaven” illustrates this.

Why should I enter this kingdom? 2 benefits: Eternal Life (KOS will die) & Abundant life now. When we die, Christians believe we’ll go to heaven. That is the ultimate gift. However, we also believe that God created us for good works here and now. We should have a holy ambition about us. Jesus invites us to leave the KOS and enter the KOG by following Him. 2 things are needed. We must SURRENDER our lives to God. This is how we become Christians. We surrender all efforts at trying to save ourselves. We realize our limitations. People in addiction learn they can’t save themselves and must turn from self-effort and will power to another way. Jesus said that HE was The Way, The Truth and The Life. He died for our sins and God raised Jesus from the dead. We renounce all efforts to save ourselves. We can’t do it. We might be really BAD sinners or we might be really GOOD people (i.e. Romans 1 & 2) but we all fall short and miss the mark (Romans 3). We all sin. We all need a savior. We surrender ourselves to God. When we surrender to Jesus, He calls us to die to our old KOS and live in His new KOG. It’s totally different than the ones we naturally construct. The KOS can do good things. People who aren’t Christians aren’t monsters. But, there is a “dark side of the moon.” We are filled with pride, envy, anger, lust, greed, gluttony & sloth. This stuff follows us around wherever we go. In our families, marriages, at work, at play, in our neighborhood and at church. The KOG invites us into a life of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness & self-control. Who would want to live with the 1st group? Who wouldn’t want to live with the 2nd group? Why do we stay with “Our 7 Deadly Sins?” Because that’s the domain of the KOS. It’s about MINE. We live with self-interest/self-absorption. Have you ever surrendered yourself to God? Maybe you never realized that there is another Kingdom. Entering the KOG is what being a Christian is about. One characteristic of the KOG = it starts out small. Jesus told how a Mustard Seed is tiny but it grow into a large tree. The

Prayer of Surrender is a tiny step but has a powerful impact. Would you be willing to surrender yourself to God right now? PRAYER Once we’ve surrendered ourselves to God….something else happens. We SERVE. The reality is that we can SERVE w/o SURRENDERING ourselves to God. Jesus battled the Pharisees about this – they were serving the KOS not the KOG. It was all about them. I’d like to claim that I’m “Pharisee-free” and completely engaged for the KOG, too, but I know my ego is my Enemy, too. There are many ways we advance toward the KOG. The primary means is PRAYER. Not only did Jesus model prayer, but Paul wrote to a young preacher, Timothy, these words (1 Tim. 2:1-4) I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone— 2 for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. 3 This is good, and pleases God our Savior, 4 who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. 5 For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, 6 who gave himself as a ransom for all men — the testimony given in its proper time. 1.) URGE - FIRST OF ALL = Prayer as PRIORITY = 1st step. It’s both “Urgent” + “Important.” Some things are urgent but aren’t important; some things are important but aren’t urgent. 2.) He lists 4 components of prayer: “REQUESTS, PRAYERS, INTERCESSION + THANKSGIVING” Many ways to pray. INTERCESSION is praying for others. 3.) PRAY FOR EVERYONE – intercede, even for KINGS/AUTHORITIES (Nero was King when Paul wrote this) 4.) THAT ALL WILL BE SAVED (the purpose of our prayers - that they will surrender themselves to God) 3 This is good, and pleases God our Savior, 4 who wants all men to be saved Our SERVICE, including our prayer, is meant to help others SURRENDER their lives to God. As long as we live in the KOS, we don’t experience the KOG. When I pray, I align myself with God’s love. I pray

that I’ll see the KOG and God’s love and character and then I can begin to see people as God sees them. God dearly loves all people and wants all to be in His Kingdom. If I make prayer a matter of me getting “stuff” from God, rather than me looking at life/others through God’s eyes, then my prayer life isn’t about the KOG it’s wrapped in the KOS. Prayer increases my awareness of the activity of God. I begin to think God’s thoughts and desire the things God desires and to love the things God loves. We learn to see things from his point of view. I ask that God will help me love that person and that through my changed attitude toward them maybe God will use me to help bring about that good. Yesterday was our Harvest Hayday. Being that tomorrow’s my birthday, Halloween has always been my 2nd favorite day. Because I was working on this sermon it made me stop and think: “When those kids come by from candy, I should serve them…but I should also serve them with the attitude that I’m praying that they will surrender their lives to Christ. I saw Mel Gibson’s movie, “Hacksaw Ridge.” It’s a true story. Hollywood presents a Christian in the best light since “Chariots of Fire.” Private 1st Class Desmond Doss was the only American to win the Congressional Medal of Honor who didn’t carry a gun. He was a conscientious objector who wanted to serve his country but refused to kill to do so. He was incredibly brave and full of compassion. He risked his life without firing a shot and saved 75 men on Hacksaw Ridge at the Battle of Okinawa. His service/mission was about saving people. That should be our purpose and our prayer, too. Like Private Doss, Christians go into places and are involved in projects that we might prefer to avoid. But we do it to help them find safety in Christ. We pray for people all over the world to know Christ. We conclude this morning, there are 5 prayers by 5 different people (Universal church, world & leaders, Tulsa leaders, suffering people)

STEWARDSHIP: God could do it all, Himself, but instead He typically chooses to work through people. Luke 8:1-3 “After this, Jesus traveled about from one town and village to another, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom of God. The Twelve were with him, 2 and also some women who had been cured of evil spirits and diseases: Mary (called Magdalene) from whom seven demons had come out; 3 Joanna the wife of Cuza, the manager of Herod's household; Susanna; and many others. These women were helping to support them out of their own means.” God could have provided for Jesus’ ministry with a miraculous supply of food and resources, but overwhelmingly He worked through people like the 12 disciples and women like Mary, Joanna, Susanna and many others who helped support them out of their own means. The biblical term for a go-between is mediator, but I think we can relate more to the term “middle man.” The one who is between two parties in a transaction. In Jesus’ work on earth now, we are the middle man. We pray, serve and give because we want to help others follow Jesus. This is how we can continue to support His ministry of spreading the Gospel and helping all people to be saved and come to a knowledge of the truth. Something happens to us when we participate —God not only works “through” us but He also works “in” us. I invite you to think about how you will be the middle man in Jesus’ ministry today, how can I support His work by your own means. This helps the recipient, but it is truly more blessed to give then to receive. Won’t you join with us as we try to reach the world for Christ?