What do we want in life?
Raul Garcia III
May 14, 2017
Mother’s Day
John 14: 1-14
Let us Pray:
May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing to you my Lord, my rock and my redeemer. Amen.
First of all, let me take this time to say Happy Mother’s Day to all the moms, aunts, cousins, grandma’s, women who help raise children and our children here at Family of God. It takes a village and we are all Family or what my family calls our close friends we are all FRAMILY. So thank you for being a Framily to our children here. God’s Blessings to you all.
Today’s text is not only about life and death, but it is a text that has everything to do with our lives here and now.
Have you ever thought about your life?
Have you ever really thought about what you really want out of life?
Sounds like a strange question to ask. But secretly down deep inside we know what we want.
A nice family, a house, a car, our health, enough money to live on etc…
Is that what you really want in life?
Our gospel lesson this morning gives us the answer to that question, what do I really want out of life…
The disciples were anxious because Jesus was leaving them. Jesus told them I am leaving you. So that is when Jesus says, Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me. Jesus is reassuring the disciples and taking away their anxiety and gaining their trust.
Jesus says I am going to my Father’s house, and prepare a place for you, so that you can be with me.
Philip and Thomas, oh Thomas the one who doubted and needed to touch Jesus for him to believe that Jesus did rise from the dead. I’m like Thomas. I’m like prove it. Show me. So Thomas says great you are going to your Father’s House. Tell me how to get there. Thomas wants a road map, GPS, instructions to this place.
Jesus said to Philip and Thomas and the others, I am the way, the truth and the life; no one comes to the Father except through me.
What we really want out of life is to follow Jesus, it is as simple as that.
We need to let the guiding principle of grace guide us and then all the other stuff will fall into place.
Let’s take this empty jar right here. This represents our life. Let’s place these golf balls inside the jar..
These golf balls represent the important things in your life - your family, your children, your health, your friends, your passions - things that if everything else was lost and only they remained your life would still be full.
Is our life full…. Yes
Okay. Let’s take these pebbles.
The pebbles are the other things that matter like your job, your house, your car.
Is our life full now?
Now let’s take this sand.
The sand is everything else - the small stuff.
Is life pretty full now?
Yes!!!!
If you put the sand into the jar first there would be room for the pebbles or the golf balls. The same goes for life. If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff, you will never have room for the things that are important to you.
If we follow Jesus, we won't have to be searching for things, or digging for treasure or be afraid of being robbed of our possessions, for we will know and understand that in the large scale of things, these are not as important as our relationship with Jesus Christ.
Trusting and having a relationship with God does not mean we will not experience pain. From the death of my little brother, my sister being diagnosed with cancer, and just recently burying a soccer player I coached that passed at age 22. I questioned my relationship with God. It is then when we are in pain that God is with us and working through us. It means we work back through the scriptures regarding His wisdom, His love, His hope, and ask Him to use those scriptures to bring peace and comfort to our hearts.
I read this excerpt from a Max Lucado book and fits perfect.
Above all, we do not sin against God by allowing distrustful and hard thoughts about Him to hold sway in our minds. It will often mean that we may have to say, “God, I don’t understand, but I trust You.”
God I don't understand, but I trust you.
God doesn’t tell us all the answers about where we are going on the road map of life, He doesn't tell us all the details about how we will be taken care of, or what might happen to us along the way, but He does give us himself in the form of his son, Jesus Christ, to be our guide, the guide who leads our way, because Jesus himself said, “I am way, the truth and the life.”
So know matter how full life can be.
And it can be full.
There is always room to have faith and a cup of coffee with a friend.
Amen.
May 14, 2017
Mother’s Day
John 14: 1-14
Let us Pray:
May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing to you my Lord, my rock and my redeemer. Amen.
First of all, let me take this time to say Happy Mother’s Day to all the moms, aunts, cousins, grandma’s, women who help raise children and our children here at Family of God. It takes a village and we are all Family or what my family calls our close friends we are all FRAMILY. So thank you for being a Framily to our children here. God’s Blessings to you all.
Today’s text is not only about life and death, but it is a text that has everything to do with our lives here and now.
Have you ever thought about your life?
Have you ever really thought about what you really want out of life?
Sounds like a strange question to ask. But secretly down deep inside we know what we want.
A nice family, a house, a car, our health, enough money to live on etc…
Is that what you really want in life?
Our gospel lesson this morning gives us the answer to that question, what do I really want out of life…
The disciples were anxious because Jesus was leaving them. Jesus told them I am leaving you. So that is when Jesus says, Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me. Jesus is reassuring the disciples and taking away their anxiety and gaining their trust.
Jesus says I am going to my Father’s house, and prepare a place for you, so that you can be with me.
Philip and Thomas, oh Thomas the one who doubted and needed to touch Jesus for him to believe that Jesus did rise from the dead. I’m like Thomas. I’m like prove it. Show me. So Thomas says great you are going to your Father’s House. Tell me how to get there. Thomas wants a road map, GPS, instructions to this place.
Jesus said to Philip and Thomas and the others, I am the way, the truth and the life; no one comes to the Father except through me.
What we really want out of life is to follow Jesus, it is as simple as that.
We need to let the guiding principle of grace guide us and then all the other stuff will fall into place.
Let’s take this empty jar right here. This represents our life. Let’s place these golf balls inside the jar..
These golf balls represent the important things in your life - your family, your children, your health, your friends, your passions - things that if everything else was lost and only they remained your life would still be full.
Is our life full…. Yes
Okay. Let’s take these pebbles.
The pebbles are the other things that matter like your job, your house, your car.
Is our life full now?
Now let’s take this sand.
The sand is everything else - the small stuff.
Is life pretty full now?
Yes!!!!
If you put the sand into the jar first there would be room for the pebbles or the golf balls. The same goes for life. If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff, you will never have room for the things that are important to you.
If we follow Jesus, we won't have to be searching for things, or digging for treasure or be afraid of being robbed of our possessions, for we will know and understand that in the large scale of things, these are not as important as our relationship with Jesus Christ.
Trusting and having a relationship with God does not mean we will not experience pain. From the death of my little brother, my sister being diagnosed with cancer, and just recently burying a soccer player I coached that passed at age 22. I questioned my relationship with God. It is then when we are in pain that God is with us and working through us. It means we work back through the scriptures regarding His wisdom, His love, His hope, and ask Him to use those scriptures to bring peace and comfort to our hearts.
I read this excerpt from a Max Lucado book and fits perfect.
Above all, we do not sin against God by allowing distrustful and hard thoughts about Him to hold sway in our minds. It will often mean that we may have to say, “God, I don’t understand, but I trust You.”
God I don't understand, but I trust you.
God doesn’t tell us all the answers about where we are going on the road map of life, He doesn't tell us all the details about how we will be taken care of, or what might happen to us along the way, but He does give us himself in the form of his son, Jesus Christ, to be our guide, the guide who leads our way, because Jesus himself said, “I am way, the truth and the life.”
So know matter how full life can be.
And it can be full.
There is always room to have faith and a cup of coffee with a friend.
Amen.
Comments
Post a Comment