Apr 24 2011 dcfc english Worship [The Master & The Disciple] Luke 24: 28-36



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CHRIST, THE TRUE LIGHT OF LIFE




Following the Right Light

Date: 5/2006.101


ACC English - 1 April 2007 Heb 12:1-3

31 August 2008 DCFC English - Heb 12:1-3 Heroes of the Faith: Run the Marathon of Faith

2009 OK Retreat - Heb 12:1-3 Faith 2 Finish: Faith is a marathon

2011 FCCD Retreat – Heb 12:1-3 Faith 2 Finish: The Christian Life is a Marathon


In the army, we used to train at night. Each time the platoon goes out, we walk in rows, about 10 feet apart. When the commander in front stop, the rest of us need to stop too and hide in the bush - not just stand around. Sometimes, it’s very dark so we can’t see each other. What we do is that we use little cylum straws. And in the darkness we just follow the light before us. When it moves, we move, when it stops we stop.

The problem is we get tired after training 2-3 days in a row. And when we stop, sometimes you just fall asleep without realizing. The next moment you wake up, the light is gone, so you have to run ahead to find it. Once, I fell asleep. Suddenly I woke up and could not see the light. I panicked and went forward, then saw the little light and was relief. As I followed that light, it appeared strange. I followed it for almost 5 min then realized that this light was going around in circles. Finally, I ran up to it and realized that it was not the cylum straw behind my buddy, but a fire fly.

So I followed the wrong light and left the right path.

In our lives, we need a light to guide us in the right path - Christ. But there are many false lights that beckons us to follow them, if we do, we will leave the right path.



CHRIST, CRUCIFICTION




Governors/ Crucifixion of Christ

When Jesus was handed over to Pilate, his fate was sealed. Two factors ensure Pilate will execute Jesus. One factor concerns keeping his allies happy by respecting their wished. The second factor concerns the content of the charge. To claim to be King of the Jews without Rome’s assent is to pose a political threat and to be guilty of treason. But to execute a kingly pretender was risky. Pilate knows that it may provoke an uprising. So he conducts a poll to assess the strength of his support. He offers a public bait and switch with Barabbas. His allies manipulate the crowd to shout for Barabbas’s release. Pilate tests their support by asking several times. The crowd calls for Jesus’ execution. This is a masterful piece of work by Pilate. Aided by his Jerusalem allies, Pilate manipulates the crowd into demanding what he already intended to do, thereby disguising his will as theirs (Matt 27:24-26).

But the narrative is equally skillful in exposing Pilate’s work. (1) Mrs. Pilate testifies that she has learned in a dream that Jesus is righteous or just. The word in Matthew’s Gospel attests faithfulness to God’s purposes. She ironically announces that Jesus’ faithful challenge to Rome’s way of structuring the world accounts for his death. (2) Pilate washes his hands of Jesus, blaming the people and having them take responsibility. But the narrative’s references to Pilate’s questioning of Jesus as king of the Jews, to the Jerusalem elite’s manipulation of the crowd to Pilate’s polling of the crowd reveal the self serving nature of Pilate’s and Rome’s rule.

CHRISTIAN, CALLING




Focus on Earth

Date: 10/2007.101


Fresh Illustrations for Preaching & Teaching - Leadership Journal - Ed Rowell P73 (Stephen Nordbye)
On Day Six of the ill-fated mission of Apollo 13, the astronauts needed to make a critical course correction. If they failed, they might never return to Earth. To conserve power, they shut down the onboard computer that steered the craft. Yet the astronauts needed to conduct a thirty nine second burn of the main engines. How to steer? Astronaut Jim Lovell determined that if they could keep a fixed point in space in view through their tiny window, they could steer the craft manually. That focal point turned out to be their destination - Earth.

As shown in the 1995's hit movie, Apollo 13 for 39 agonizing seconds, Lovell focused on keeping the earth in view. By not losing sight of that reference point, the three astronauts avoided disaster. Scripture reminds us that to finish your life mission successfully, "Fix your eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith." (Hebrews 12:2)


CHRISTIAN, CALLING

Super Bowl 1993

Date: 10/2007.101


Fresh Illustrations for Preaching & Teaching - Leadership Journal - Ed Rowell P75 (Steve Chandler)
Tom Friends of the NY Times asked coach Jimmy Johnson what he told his players before leading the Cowboys onto the field for the 1993 Super Bowl.

"I told them that if I laid a two-by-four across the floor, everybody there would walk across it and not fall because our focus would be on walking the length of that board. But if I put that same board 10 stories high between two buildings only a few would make it, because the focus would be on falling." Johnson told his players not to focus on the crowd, the media or the possibility of falling, but to focus on each play of the game as if it were a good practice session. The Cowboys won the game 52-7.

A Christian must not focus on what people think but only on what is excellent or praiseworthy. (Philippians 4:8)
CHRISTIAN, CALLING

The Call of the Barnyard

Date: 6/2006.101


More Hot Illustrations for Youth Talks P49
A flock of wild ducks were flying in formation, heading south for the winter. They formed a beautiful V in the sky and were admired by everyone who saw them from below.

One day, Wally one of the wild ducks in the formation spotted something on the ground that caught his eye. it was a barnyard with a flock of tame ducks who lived on the farm. They were waddling around on the ground, quacking merrily and eating corn that was thrown on the ground for them every day. Wally liked what he saw. "It sure would be nice to have some of that corn," he thought to himself. "And all this flying is very tiring. I'd like to just waddle around for a while."

So after thinking it over a while, Wally left the formation of wild ducks, made a sharp dive to the left and headed for the barnyard. He landed among the tame ducks and began to waddle around and quack merrily. He also started eating corn. The formation of wild ducks continued their journey south, but Wally didn’t care. "I'll rejoin them when they come back north in few months," he said to himself.

Several months went by and sure enough, Wally looked up and spotted the flock of wild ducks in formation, heading north. They looked beautiful up there. And Wally was tired of the barnyard. It was muddy and everywhere he waddled nothing but duck doo. "It's time to leave," said Wally.

So Wally flapped his wings furiously and tried to get airborne. But he had gained some weight from all corn-eating, and he hadn’t exercised his wings much either. he finally got off the ground but he was flying too low and slammed into the side of the barn. He fell to the ground with a thud and said to himself, "Oh well, I'll just wait until they fly south in a few months. Then I'll rejoin them and become a wild duck again."

But when the flock flew overhead once more, Wally again tried to lift himself out of the barnyard. He simply didn't have the strength. Every winter and every spring, he saw his wild duck friends flying overhead and they would call out to him. But his attempts to leave were all in vain.

Eventually Wally no longer paid any attention to the wild ducks flying overhead. He hardly even noticed them. He had, after all, become a barnyard duck.

Application:

Sometimes we get tired of being wild ducks - followers of Jesus Christ. It’s not always easy to be obedient to God and to discipline ourselves to hang in there for the long haul. When we are feeling that way, that’s when Satan tempts us to "fall out of formation" and to join the barnyard ducks - the world.

But look what happened to Wally. He thought he would just "check it out" for awhile and then leave when he wanted to. But he couldn't do it. Sin is like that. Sin is a trap and it has a way of changing us into people we don’t even want to become. Eventually we lose touch with who we really are - the sons and daughters of the Most High. We become barnyard ducks.

Let us focus on things above and not things below. God has called us to fly, to soar, let us not settle for waddling.



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