The Greater Thing
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Our sermon will be on Acts 9:1-19
We have a website: https://tahlequahworshipcenter.com/
We are starting Wednesday Night service back up
We are having Thanksgiving dinner after service next Sunday
Kelly Greene will be preaching for us
Prayer requests:
Sue
Georgey
Billy and his Dad
Dorcas
Mark Wilson
Cristy’s Grandparents
Sandra
My Mom
Songs
He Set Me Free
Until Then
Thank You
The Greater Thing
The Greater Thing
When I was young, I remember the movie “Chariots of Fire” coming out. I remember a big deal being made out of the movie.
I won 4 Academy Awards.
I remember that I saw it, but I didn’t remember what’s it was about.
Mostly I remember a man running on the beach and the unforgettable music.
That was until I saw it again years later after I became a Christian.
It’s based on a true story about Eric Liddell and Harold Abrahams.
I want to talk about Eric Liddell.
He was at the time, the fastest man on earth.
He was also a devout Christian.
During the 1924 Olympics near Paris, there was a movement of events that caused the 100m to be moved to a Sunday. Eric Liddell refused to run because it was the Christian Sabbath. He would have won the 100m.
He did win the 400m dash after delivering the a message on Isaiah 40 where he ends with Isaiah 40:31
31 But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings as eagles; They shall run, and not be weary; And they shall walk, and not faint.
He was not favored to win the 400 m because it was longer than his favored time.
Before the race as the American coach dismisses Liddell, but another American, Jackson Scholz, hands him a note that quotes 1 Samuel 2:30
1 Samuel 2:30 (KJV ) … for them that honour me I will honour, ...
Liddell won gold with a world record time of 47.6 sec.
He went on to China as a missionary where he died in 1945 where the Japanese had occupied.
He was worked to death in prison camp where he was basically worked to death.
I’m not going to comment on whether he was right or wrong to refuse to run, but I will say that that moment may have defined his character for the rest of his life.
One of his fellow prisoners, Langdom Gilkey, said of him:
Often in an evening I would see him bent over a chessboard or a model boat, or directing some sort of square dance – absorbed, weary and interested, pouring all of himself into this effort to capture the imagination of these penned-up youths. He was overflowing with good humour and love for life, and with enthusiasm and charm. It is rare indeed that a person has the good fortune to meet a saint, but he came as close to it as anyone I have ever known.
10 Now He was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath.
11 And behold, there was a woman who had a spirit of infirmity eighteen years, and was bent over and could in no way raise herself up.
12 But when Jesus saw her, He called her to Him and said to her, “Woman, you are loosed from your infirmity.”
13 And He laid His hands on her, and immediately she was made straight, and glorified God.
14 But the ruler of the synagogue answered with indignation, because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath; and he said to the crowd, “There are six days on which men ought to work; therefore come and be healed on them, and not on the Sabbath day.”
15 The Lord then answered him and said, “Hypocrite! Does not each one of you on the Sabbath loose his ox or donkey from the stall, and lead it away to water it?
16 So ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has bound—think of it—for eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the Sabbath?”
17 And when He said these things, all His adversaries were put to shame; and all the multitude rejoiced for all the glorious things that were done by Him.
The Satan
The Satan
A few Sundays ago, I talked to you about sicknesses and how most of the time they are not caused by anyone and they are no one’s fault.
Well, this one was someone’s fault: Satan.
Did you know that Satan can cause illness?
This is not the first time that we see Satan causing an illness.
We see it in Job. Satan causes an illness that produces boils all over Job. Boils are painful.
What this woman was going through must have been painful as well.
It just calls it an infirmity. In the Greek it means a physical inability weakness.
It is opposite of strength.
I know a few people with an infirmity.
We see that Mary Magdalene had spirits and infirmities.
I want you to look here at what it says that she was bent over and couldn’t raise herself up.
Not every sickness like this is caused by Satan, but this one was.
Here’s my take on it.
Unless God tells me that it’s caused by Satan, I’m going to assume that it’s not.
Then along comes Jesus. Luke 13:12-13 “12 And when Jesus saw her, he called her to him, and said unto her, Woman, thou art loosed from thine infirmity. 13 And he laid his hands on her: and immediately she was made straight, and glorified God.”
Jesus heals her, he casts Satan out.
The Sabbath
The Sabbath
Here is a clear miracle that must be from God and yet there is opposition.
We don’t know where this happened, but it was at a synagogue.
The ruler was upset because it was on the sabbath.
In our text Jesus calls the ruler a Hypocrite and he uses the example of an ox or donkey. If it’s the Sabbath, they will at least let their animals go somewhere where they can get food and water.
In Another instance where the disciples were gathering grain to eat Jesus says
27 And He said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath.
28 Therefore the Son of Man is also Lord of the Sabbath.”
What’s happening and still happens to this day is that we look at the things we don’t do and we yell about them.
Let me say something about Sunday in general.
The Jewish Sabbath was on a Saturday. We as Christians started to worship on Sunday to celebrate the day that Jesus rose from the grave.
That eventually became the Christian Sabbath.
So what do we do as Christians?
Jesus hear shows that this lady, who had had been bound by Satan for 18 years, is more important than the cattle or donkeys.
What is the purpose of the Sabbath?
It’s to show us that we need rest.
I want you to know something about me. I don’t know if anyone even thinks of this, but I work between 40-50 hours a week for my day job and then I add 10-20 hours for the church. I’m sure I average at least 60 hours a week. I don’t get a day off.
So that’s why most Saturdays and Sundays, I rest when I’m not doing anything else.
We get all hung up on what we are doing and we miss out on the stuff that matters.
So before you go and criticize someone for working on Sunday, ask yourself “Am I doing what I should?”
Am I watching the race which is contributing to someone else having to work? Am I going out to eat? Am I grabbing food at Reasor’s? Or gas somewhere?
We need to make sure we are not guilty of some of these things.
What is the principle of the Sabbath? It is rest.
Are we taking the time to rest?
It’s claimed that even Liddell refereed a field hockey match on a Sunday to help stop fighting amongst players while he was in that prison camp.
When we get to acting like this hypocritical ruler, we are missing out on the greater thing.
The Savior
The Savior
Do you know what the synagogue ruler was missing? The Savior
They were in the presence of God, and they were upset that he had broken the Sabbath.
He is Lord of the Sabbath.
The main point of Jesus isn’t about the Sabbath, but the fact that this woman was healed.
We are missing the same thing.
We go about our lives trying to live by these standards that we have set, and Jesus didn’t come to make us follow a set of rules.
He came to save us! He came to set us free.
Now if we love him, we will try to please him, but the way we do that is by loving others.
Love God and love others.
That’s what Jesus did. He came and died for what?
16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.
That’s what Jesus commanded us to do.
We are here to love others.
The ruler missed the fact that this woman had been healed.
He was in the presence of the Savior and he was missing it because of his rules.
It says here that all of Jesus’ adversaries were put to shame.
If you are more worried about how someone acts or dresses than their eternal soul, shame on you.
We come here to worship the Savior.
And listen to this: Jesus is here with us.
If you come here to judge others, then you are in the wrong place.
I serve a God that loves me so much that he died for me.
That’s the kind of love that we are called to have.
Are you here for Messiah, or for the Music?
Are you here for God or to make yourself feel Good?
Most of us are here to feel better about ourselves
We are missing out on the Greater Thing
The Greater Thing is Jesus!