I believe that God uniquely provided gifts to each of us to serve.   The challenge or the next level challenge is how do we take the gift and use it not just in the church but in other aspects of our lives.  What I mean is this it once thing to show up here every Sunday and serve it's whole another approach to serve family and friends and those who don’t like you and don’t event us around.  Beloved we all have a gift and it is extremely important that we know and exercised. 

So today we continued with our theme of Spiritual Warfare. This theme is designed to help us understand that many of the issues we face are closely connected to spiritual warfare. Please know that we face a very well foe who seeks steal, kill and destroy. In other words, it’s time to fight back. I want to use a familiar passage that is often used but highlights a component of this passage that doesn’t always get the full attention of the listener or the reader. I believe unpack you’ll what mean by that statement. So come on and go with me to Ephesians 6:10-18. If you look there, you will find these important words for us to keep as tools used against our adversary.

So why am I emphasizing the number 50 so much in my introduction.  I am glad you ask that question.  Today is the Pentecost Sunday and Pentecost means "fiftieth".  Pentecost is a Christian holiday which takes place on the 50th day after Easter Sunday. It commemorates the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles and other followers of Jesus Christ while they were in Jerusalem celebrating the Feast of Weeks. 

Since we are focusing on mental health let me just go ahead and state this up front that I am not a doctor but that does not prevent you or I from trying to assist or support those who may be dealing with mental health issues. Please know it’s okay to not be okay, what you do about it is what matters. So, my goal today is to not only share with you a sermon but to also offer pastoral guidance on how to get help.

Please know that today’s sermon is aimed at making us look at ourselves in the mirror of spirituality and do an assessment of how others see us but more importantly how we see ourselves.  Because it is one thing for others to see us in a certain light but it’s whole different thing the way we see ourselves.  So, let’s see how this connect to the main characters in this text, the sick servant, the Centurion, the Elders, the Friends and Jesus. 

There was a time in my life that running was something I enjoyed doing, for a short spell I attempted running track in school. When I joined the military I ran in competition events. I mean to a certain degree we all run in some form or fashion. But in all my time of being on this earth for over sixty years I have never ever seen or remembered on occasion that I would run to the cemetery in fact as a child we were taught to run away from the cemetery. Which begs the question as we just read the verses about the people running to the cemetery. So, for this morning I want to leave you with the subject running to Jesus.

Let us ponder a moment about what faith. Faith is the very essence of what we believe in it is a driving force of our character it is what keeps us glued to the principles of God's faith is the seemed that holds the blocks together, faith is the fuel that burns the engine of our life, faith is the water that quenches our thirst, faith is the yes essence of life as a belief in.

This morning we are going full throttle on the name of Jesus so if it’s sound like I am being repetitive I am. Because once you start talking about Jesus so realize that everything about who we are and what we do is about Jesus. From our rising up to the laying down of the same.

The Book of Judges mentions twelve leaders who are said to "judge" . In my experience the male judges tend to get all of the attention because almost all of know the story of Samson he was a judge but it’s not quite the same when it comes to Deborah. Deborah was the only named female judge during this time. She aggressively pulled on the moral bridle of Israel to return to worship of the one true God

Let first start off by saying that there are so many things that bring us joy in this world, take for example the birth of baby brings so much joy, attending a wedding brings joy, moving out your parent’s home brings, going on a much needed vacation brings joy to the soul when you check in and they grab your bags and you a fresh beverage, getting a new job or leaving a job can bring so much joy. I could go on and on about joy, okay one more since you ask, when you the pinnacle of parenting and you see the birth of your first grand child it brings a joy that is unprecedented any comparison with all the other example. Which leads me to our subject today of The Joys of Steadfastness.

Let’s me go ahead and tell you that today’s message is not for the  person sitting next you nor is it for the person that you may think to need to hear it.  No my friends in today’s message I plan to knock on your door and give you message that is signed sealed and required only your  signature to guarantee it delivery.  There is no one else who can sign  for you.  What I mean is this.  While we are persevering in this life we  need to be reminded that we are setting the example for others to  follow.

Perseverance is persistence in doing something despite difficulty or delay in achieving success. Perseverance it is not free, it is not cheap, it is not pain free, it requires an abundance of energy and efforts. Perseverance is what drives you beyond the stuff that is trying to keep us back in life.

There is a difference between going and doing. For see Some people don’t have a problem with the going it’s the doing part that trip folks up. We have a lot of experts in our lives. Not you or somebody but you know how it is.  They go to the family reunion but it is hard to get them to do something to help put it all together. They go to the funeral and do nothing afterward to help the family.  They go the church, but it’s hard to get them to do something at the church.  Hence is why I want to share with you on the topic of Going and Doing.

Can I ask you a question? Are you soaring? I know that life requirements and commitments can make you feel tired and heck you may even feel like you are about to stumble and fall or feel like we are in a hold and wait pattern of life I want to encourage you to stop waiting because it is time for you to soar. Before I proceed further allow me to provide you with a little context of what we just read.

I have come to recognize that most of us not all of us  live in this area and that it is an area there is an abundance social economic status. We can drive around and see beautiful homes, great schools, nice cars and, fine restaurants and an abundance of high-end retail shopping stores. Don’t get me wrong It is a good thing to be able to enjoy many if not all of these things. But if we are not careful we can believe or others can conclude that having these the things are the results of hard work, education who you know and who knows you. So here is what I want you think about as we dive into the text for today and that is this. Do you praise God and thank him the same way before all this stuff arrived at our front door.

For those of us who have been around the church for a minute this is  probably a familiar story but for those who are new to the text allow me  to give you a short backdrop of how we arrive at verse 12.  Ruth is one  of two books in the Bible named after a woman. Although Ruth came from a  pagan background in Moab, once she met the God of Israel, Ruth became a  living testimony to Him by faith. Ruth is one of the few women  mentioned in the genealogy of Jesus Christ (Matthew 1:5). During this  sermon we will listen in on the conversation between Naomi and daughter  in-laws as they discuss the next step of their journey together as they  are going through some hard times.

The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast.

As we travel a little further in the text the Peter states that after you have suffered a little while, the question that you and I want to know is how long is a little while? Well, my friend the good news is that a little while is shorter than a long while lol.  But make no mistake about it when you say the word suffering we want to immediate turn the channel, hang up the call or let it go to voicemail. I will put suffering on the do not call list with an automatic renew. But let’s face it for what it is and the Bible states that when we live Godly lives we will suffer. While none of us jump to the head the line to sign up for suffering we know that when we suffer for righteousness’s sake we grow in Christ.

Storms can be in the form of family tragedy, health crisis, money woes and relationship drama. I want you to know matter who you are rather wise or foolish storms are going to come your way. It does not matter if you are rich or poor, black or white, live on east coast or the west coast, married, single or divorced, storms are going to come your way. I submit to you that there are three times when storms will show up in our lives yesterday, today and or tomorrow. This is why I speak with such directness and conviction about building on a solid foundation because I want you to be ready for the storm that are heading your way. The question is your house built on a solid foundation.

Midnight is the moment we leave from one tough day and move to the next better day. Midnight can be sometimes be referred to as the darkest day just before the sun shines in our lives the next day. At midnight is when things seem the scariest in our lives, midnight can be characterized as a between a rock and a bigger rock. For your midnight can happen while you are on vacation, your honeymoon, midnight can happen in the boardroom or at the mall, midnight can happen in your neighborhood and yes brace yourself midnight can happen while you are sitting in the pew of a packed church or preparing to preach a sermon. For you see mid nights are not predictable, mid-nights just show up when you least expect them to and stays with you far too long.