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God Is In Control

In an ongoing series of sermons exploring heaven, this lesson turns to the Old Testament views of heaven and the afterlife. We discover that a primary understanding of heaven involves the God of Creation, seated in His kingdom and being firmly in control. Do we find comfort in this today?

Jesus enters Jerusalem in His triumphal entry. One of the only times He accepted this kind of praise and worship. This marks the beginning of the last week of Jesus’ life and ministry here on earth.

1 Peter 5:5-7 We are called to be humble, toward one another and toward God. Humility is not a sign of weakness, but the gratefully received grace of God and passing it on to others. We must be wise and not allow life's anxieties to affect our humility. If we permit our anxities to control us, how can we serve others? Cast all your anxiety on Him.

Luke 8:22-24 As we go through life we face various types of storms. But, whatever the storm that arises, we can be assured that God is in control and He can give us calm in and through the storm.

Acts 4:23-31 When the disciples were filled with the Holy Spirit, they were emboldened to speak even contrary to religious authorities then. They didn't pray for protection from persecution. Instead, they prayed for more healing, signs and wonders through the name of Jesus. Paul encouraged the Ephesian church to be continually filled with the Holy Spirit. We need to be continually filled with the Spirit and to minister out of a Spirit-filled abundant life.

Joshua 5:13-6:5 Joshua takes over as leader of the Israelite nation, and prepares for the conquest of the promised land. In this passage we see three things Joshua does that ensures their victory in the upcoming campaign.

What is temperance? How do we let what is right in the word take control?

Theme: Israel tests God at Massah and Meribah. When we test God, we are fighting for control and we start to embody confusion, doubt and resistance before the Lord. We get really concern about what we can not predict. When we test God, His grace comes in and will retest us, so that He calls us back to trust Jesus Christ. His grace is grater!

Surrending our lives means we give God total of our lives and trust Him to direct our lives. Surrender is leaving the outcome to God. Surrender is a lifelong process. In surrendering to Jesus, we can trust with full confidence and certainty that God loves us and wants the best for us.

Sid reminds us that if you're focusing on the past, you're trying to be in control instead of allowing God to be. When God says I have something for you to do, he asks, will you let me be in control and will you get out of the way? Mary allowed God to be in control of her life.

Jesus heals a demon-possessed man and restores him to his community. This is a hard story for many of us to hear. We'd rather not think about demons or impure spirits. We don't know what to do with people who are excluded by their family or society because of mental illness. We'd rather not come face-to-face with the powers that control us. But Jesus' name is powerful. Jesus crosses the sea of Galilee and confronts the powers of evil on their territory. And Jesus wins. Because he is powerful. That is scary for the people who witness Jesus' power. They'd rather send him away than see his power change everything about their lives. What about you? Come and listen! Be transformed by word and worship of Jesus Christ.

Theme: What do we, as Christians, do when we face opposition to the Gospel? This passage is teaching us that there is no need to panic because Christians have the full sovereignty of God. The peace of God lets us rest in his truth and there is one just cause which Jesus has already fought for, in the cross. Our God is always in control, even when we are not present.

One of the things we all know from experience is you can be sailing along doing pretty well in your Christian life, then something happens, and the pagan, sin-dominated person you thought had been left behind suddenly takes over. You have probably seen it when driving. Someone honks at you, drives too…

Brother Paul preaches about God wanting to give us goodness and mercy in our lives. One thing we need to do to receive this is to let God take control.