Psa 138:1 Of
David. I will praise you, LORD, with
all my heart; before the "gods" I will sing your praise. 2 I will bow
down toward your holy temple and will praise your name for your unfailing love
and your faithfulness, for you have so exalted your solemn decree that it
surpasses your fame. 3 When I called, you answered me; you greatly
emboldened me. 4 May all the kings of the earth praise you,
LORD, when they hear what you have decreed. 5 May they sing of the ways of the LORD, for
the glory of the LORD is great. 6 Though the LORD is exalted, he looks kindly
on the lowly; though lofty, he sees them from afar. 7 Though I walk in the midst of trouble, you
preserve my life. You stretch out your hand against the anger of my foes; with
your right hand you save me. 8 The LORD will vindicate me; your love, LORD,
endures forever-- do not abandon the works of your hands.
There was a man that got real sick of working in New
York City. One day, he quit his job, packed up his wife and kiddies, and came
to Texas to become a farmer. He bought a big parcel of land with a grand old
barn and some fields just ready to plow and plant. Now, being a city slicker,
the poor fellow didn't know where to start with that there farm. His wife
suggested that they get a mule to pull the plow for them, and the yankee
thought this was as splendid idea. He set off down the road to visit their
neighbor and ask him where he could buy a mule. Well, that neighbor sized up his new neighbor as a Yankee in
about five seconds and decided to have a bit of fun with him. "Well, you could advertise for a mule in the local
paper," the neighbor said. "But
if you want to do it the Texan way, well then you should get yourself a mule
egg and hatch your own. That way you can train the mule up from birth to do
exactly as you want." The greenhorn's eyes got real wide. "I didn't know mules hatched from eggs," he
said excitedly. "Where do I get
one?" …"It just so happens I have one mule egg left from the last
batch I raised," the neighbor said. He went into the shed and came out
with a round, Honeydew melon. The Yankee's eyes lit up."How much do I owe you?" he
asked his neighbor."That'll be a dollar.
And mind you, you've got to sit on the mule egg night and day for a week before
it will hatch," the neighbor said, accepting the yankee’s money and
handing over the melon. Well, the yankee ran all the way home and showed the
mule egg to his wife and kiddies. Everyone was thrilled with his purchase, and
they all took turns sitting on the coconut, waiting for it to hatch. They
waited one week. Then they waited two. By the third week, everyone's bottoms
were sore from sitting on the hard coconut, and still there was no sign of a
mule. "It must be a bad egg,"
the wife said at last. "Better throw it out and
see if our neighbor will give us our money back." As
the disappointed family watched, the Yankee took the melon outside and pitched
it into the bushes. All at once, a giant jackrabbit burst out of the tall grass
next to the bushes and hopped away lickety-split. "It's the baby mule!" shouted
one of the kiddies. "Catch it, Pa! Catch it."
Well, the greenhorn ran after that long-eared critter as fast as he
could go, shouting: "I'm your momma, baby
mule! Please come back!" But he was no match for that jackrabbit. It darted here
and there; it slithered hither and yon; and finally, it slid down a hole in the
ground and disappeared. The greenhorn fell to the ground and lay panting in
exhaustion. A few moments later, his wife and kids caught up with him and
pulled him to his feet. "Where's our mule?"
asked his wife."The dad-blame thing
got away," said the Yankee. "And
I'm not sorry it did. That's the speediest mule I ever laid eyes on, and I
don't think I can plow that fast!"
1
Peter2:9-10 But you are a chosen people, a royal
priesthood, a holy nation, God's special possession, that you may declare the
praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. 10 Once you were not a people, but now you are the
people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received
mercy.
Sheila Walsh is a Christian singer, writer, and
former host of The 700 Club. She describes how her disconnected spirituality
literally hit a wall. "One morning I was
sitting on national television with my nice suit and inflatable hairdo and that
night I was in the locked ward of a psychiatric hospital. The very first day in
the hospital, the psychiatrist asked me, "Who are you?"
"I'm the co-host of The 700 Club,"
replied Sheila. …"That is not what I
mean," he said. … "I'm a
writer. I'm a singer." … "That
is what you do. Who are you?" …"I
don't have a clue." And he
replied, "Now that's why you're here." Sheila goes on: "I measured myself by what other people
thought of me. That was slowly killing me. Before I entered the hospital, some
of the 700 Club staff said to me, 'Don't do this. You will never regain any
kind of platform. If people know you were in a mental institution and on
medication, it's over.' I said, 'You know what? It's over anyway. So I can't
think about that.'" … "I really thought I had lost
everything. My house. My salary. My job. Everything. But I found my life. I
discovered at the lowest moment of my life that everything that was true about
me, God knew."
I.
I’ll tell you who God’s Word says you are?
Mathew 5:13-16 "You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses
its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for
anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot. 14 "You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill
cannot be hidden. 15 Neither do people
light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it
gives light to everyone in the house. 16 In the same way, let
your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify
your Father in heaven.
a. A Chosen People
i.
The
Salt of the Earth
ii.
Destined
to flavor the world
I am a bit of an oddity… I lived in New Mexico for over 20 years. If
you go into a Mexican restaurant and order enchiladas or a Burrito … they will
ask you if you want Red or Green …. That’s it … Do you want Red or Green? ….
They are talking about Red or Green Chile … I don’t like green Chile! I can
taste the least little bit of green Chile in my food … Everything I eat that
has Green Chile in it tastes like Green Chile and nothing else!
We are to be the Salt of the Earth. We are to flavor society! We
cannot walk around with a 20 pound block of salty and hit everyone that
disagrees with us over the head with it! … Salt is to be sprinkled lightly on
our food so that it will flavor the food.
One thing of note … if you eat a pepper and it is burning your
mouth, a little bit of salt will soothe the burning sensation.
We
are to be salt to the world.
b. A Royal Priesthood
John_13:34 "A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must
love one another.
i.
We
are our own priest
ii.
The
job of the priest is to minister to the people.
c.
A
Holy Nation
John_14:21
Whoever
has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me
will be loved by my
Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them."
i.
We
are WASHED CLEAN
ii.
We
are to desire to remain clean.
d. God’s Special Possession
i.
Prized
posession
When I was in the 4th grade we lived in San Antonio. For Christmas
that year I got my first wristwatch. I was so proud of that watch. I would
polish it and sit and watch the second hand go round and round … (simple minds
are simply amused) When we went back to school after the holidays we got notice
that school pictures would be on Friday of that week. When we got our class
picture back … there I am … sitting in the front row showing off my new watch
to the camera. … IT WAS MY PRIZED POSESSION.
……………..
II.
So, Why are you who you are?
Mark_10:21 Jesus
looked at him and loved
him.
John_3:16 For God
so loved the world
that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not
perish but have eternal life.
a. One reason
i.
You
are who you are so that you may declare praises of Him
John_3:19 This is
the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because
their deeds were evil.
b. Called you out of the Darkness into
his Wonderful Light
Amazing Grace how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me … I
once was lost but now I’m found was blind but now I see.
III.
What is the value of who we are?
John_15:9 "As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love.
a. Salvation
i.
Once
you were not a people of God
ii.
Once
you had not received mercy
Romans_8:37 No, in all these things we are more
than conquerors through him who loved us.
b. Now you have received mercy.
·
Salvation is simply coming to the place where you realize that you
have broken God’s laws.
·
Understanding that our SIN separates us from God who loves us.
·
That God sent His son Jesus to pay the penalty of death in our
place.
·
In gratitude we ask God to forgive our sins and commit ourselves to
live by His Word and follow Him!
In
just a few moments, we will have a time of invitation. We will invite you to
come and take me by the hand and say “I want Jesus!” I expect that some that
are here today will make that decision!
IV.
How should we respond to this Mercy?
a. Scripture tells us …
2
Thesolonians_2:13 But we ought always to thank God for you, brothers and sisters loved by the Lord,
because God chose you as firstfruits to be saved through the sanctifying work
of the Spirit and through belief in the truth.
Galations_2:20 I have
been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The
life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself
for me.
Ephesians_5:1 Follow
God's example, therefore, as dearly loved children
Ephesians_5:2 and
walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant
offering and sacrifice to God.
Colosians_3:12 Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves
with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.
There he stood, in the midst of the Golden
Corral restaurant, with Thousand Island dressing dripping from
his hair, over his glasses, down his face, all over his jacket, pants, &
shoes. And I’m not talking about a little bit of Thousand Island dressing, I’m
talking about 2 gallons of it! … What had happened
was that a waitress carrying a 2-gallon container of Thousand Island dressing
for the salad bar had paused for just a second while coming out of the swinging
doors of the kitchen, & the doors had caught her & knocked her forward,
launching 2 gallons of dressing all over this guy. Well, he
went ballistic! He started shouting & cursing at her. “You’re so stupid! I
can’t believe you could do such a stupid, stupid thing. This is a brand new
suit & it cost me $300.” His wife chimed in, “Yeah, you’ve ruined my
husband’s $300 suit, & it’s the first time he’s had a chance to wear it.”
He screamed, “I want to see the manager!”
Thoroughly shaken, the waitress went to get the
manager, & the manager came out. Now picture this – here’s a guy with 2
gallons of Thousand Island dressing dripping from him, & the manager asks, “Is
there a problem?” The guy replies, “Is there a
problem? She’s ruined my $300 suit. It’s brand new, & I want a new suit!” The
manager says, “We’ll be glad to get your suit cleaned. Accidents
do happen, & we’re really sorry about this.”
“No! No!” he said. “I don’t
want my suit cleaned. I want a brand new suit, & I demand a check for $300
right here & now.” Well, to avoid a bigger scene, the manger goes
back into his office, writes out a check for $300 & brings it to him. And
justice is served. Tragically, this true story happened at noon on a
Sunday.
Now, why would someone
be wearing a brand new suit on Sunday?
Do you suppose he had
been to church.
Do you suppose that he
had just heard a sermon on “Love your neighbor as yourself,” or “Do unto others as you would have them do unto
you,” or “Go the second mile”?
Who
are You?
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