Psalm 23 Series, part 2. Preached by Chris Broom, 9/9/2007


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The Latino Ministry shall not be in want

I Shall Not Be In Want - Outline
Do you really believe that God is enough? This sermon has the answers…
The title of our lesson today comes from Psalm 23:1 … I SHALL NOT BE IN WANT.

What a incredible statement David is making here. He’s saying I am utterly content in God’s care (The LORD is my shepherd), and therefore I am not craving or desiring anything more (I shall not be in want). I’m perfectly content with my lot in life. Church, it is my prayer and expectation that this study series will help all of us get to that level of faith, that level of trust and that level of utter contentment in the hands of our God.

2 POINTS / 2 KEYS TO CONTENTMENT.

MATTHEW 6:19-21 … Treasures in Heaven

KEY #1 IS A CONVICTION THAT NOTHING OF AN EARTHLY NATURE EITHER LASTS OR SATISFIES.

CS Lewis said, “All that is not eternal is eternally useless.”

MATTHEW 6:24 Cannot serve two masters. You will never be truly content with 2 masters.

Luke 14:33 Contentment does not come by accident it comes by doing the will of God. THE KEY TO CONTENTMENT IS A CONVICTION THAT NOTHING OF AN EARTHLY NATURE EITHER LASTS OR SATISFIES. THEREFORE, GIVE IT UP AND FOLLOW JESUS. (Many of you met Michael Kirchner when he visited here in June, just before moving to LA to be a part of our sister church there. He left his position as a VP at General Mills and consequently left 50 million dollars on the table.) If you want to be content, give up everything and follow Jesus. Trust or bust, baby.

MARK 10.17-22

As Jesus started on his way, a man ran up to him and fell on his knees before him. “Good teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?” “Why do you call me good?” Jesus answered. “No one is good””except God alone. You know the commandments: ‘Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony, do not defraud, honor your father and mother.” “Teacher,” he declared, “all these I have kept since I was a boy.” Jesus looked at him and loved him. “One thing you lack,” he said. “Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” At this the man’s face fell. He went away sad, because he had great wealth.

He obviously had 2 Masters, and Jesus’ answer was to get rid of the earthy one. Instead, he wandered away … sad.

****THE FENCE CRAWLER

In “A Shepherd looks at the 23rd Psalm,” the author had a sheep that he called Ms. Gad About. She was what shepherds call a fence crawler. No matter how incredible their shepherd is, they are always looking for a hole to crawl through so they can get into another pasture. Others followed Ms. Gad About’s example and were being led astray, so in the end, she had to be slaughtered. The shepherd said he couldn’t let one take down the entire group.

This is a very humbling visual for me. I love God’s kingdom, and yet Satan gets me to crawl down that fence and be “in want.” He gets us to want the best of both worlds, and so we flirt with the world. (JAMES 4.4 says we commit adultery with the world.)

What causes you to be “in want.”

The lie that so many believe is: when I get a Boyfriend / Girlfriend, Married, Children, a crankin’ car, a crankin’ house, then I’ll be content.

Rashaski said… “Man never has what he wants, because what he wants is everything.

****A recent poll alleges that 67 percent of Americans are unhappy with the direction the country is headed.

”What we are so unhappy about?”

Is it that we have electricity and running water 24 hours a day, 7 days a week? Is our unhappiness the result of having air conditioning in the summer and heating in the winter? Could it be that 95.4 percent of these unhappy folks have a job? Maybe it is the ability to walk into a grocery store at any time and see more food in moments than some have seen in the last year?

Maybe it is the ability to drive from the Pacific Ocean to the Atlantic Ocean without having to present identification papers as we move through each state? Or possibly the hundreds of clean and safe motels we would find along the way that can provide temporary shelter? I guess having thousands of restaurants with varying cuisine from around the world is just not good enough. Or could it be that when we wreck our car, emergency workers show up and provide services to help all and even send a helicopter to take you to the hospital.

Perhaps you are one of the 70 percent of Americans who own a home. You may be upset with knowing that in the unfortunate case of a fire, a group of trained firefighters will appear in moments and use top notch equipment to extinguish the flames thus saving you, your family and your belongings. Or if, while at home watching one of your many flat screen TVs, a burglar or prowler intrudes , an officer equipped with a gun and a bullet-proof vest will come to defend you and your family against attack or loss. This all in the backdrop of a neighborhood free of bombs or militias raping and pillaging the residents. Neighborhoods where 90 percent of teenagers own cell phones and computers.

How about the complete religious, social and political freedoms we enjoy that are the envy of everyone in the world? Maybe that is what has 2/3rds of Americans unhappy.

Fact is, we are the largest group of ungrateful, spoiled brats the world has ever seen. No wonder the world loves the U.S., yet has a great disdain for its citizens. They see us for what we are. The most (materially) blessed people in the world who do nothing but complain about what we don’t have, and what we hate about the country instead of thanking the good Lord we live here.

****23rd Channel

The TV is my shepherd, I shall not want. It makes me lie down on the sofa. It leads me away from the faith. It destroys my soul.

It leads me in the path of sex and violence for the sponsor’s sake.

Yea, though I walk in the shadow of Christian responsibilities,

There will be no interruption, for the TV is with me. Its cable and remote control, they comfort me.

It prepares a commercial for me in the presence of my worldliness.

It anoints my head with humanism and consumerism. My coveting runneth over.

Surely, laziness and ignorance shall follow me all the days of my life,

And I shall dwell in the house watching TV forever.

– Author Unknown

Whether it’s the TV or internet, we open ourselves up and the world comes pouring in. Sex, violence, materialism, greed, laziness and the like polute our spirits and leave us wanting even more.

****Prosperity Gospel

These days you can go to a church that will tell you it’s ok to be in want. Many false teachers misrepresent God by preaching what is known as the prosperity gospel. It has also been called the “name it and claim it” theology. These teachers claim that those who follow God and give generously to his ministries can have anything and everything they want in this life. Such a theology is a simplistic and misguided way of living.

Two extremes:

A. To claim, as these preachers do, that material blessing is a mark of God’s approval in your life is just not always true.

REVELATION 3.14-17

Here, members of the church in Laodicia were deceived. Many think that if the money is good, God is showing his blessing on them, but then Jesus says, “you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. ” Money is not the mark of God’s blessing, Contentment no matter the circumstance is the mark of God’s blessing.

B. It is equally wrong to say that bad fortune shows God’s disapproval

Job’s friends were wrong when they supposed that Job must have done something to warrant the things that were happening to him. It had nothing to do with that did it? And how about John 9:1 when Jesus’ disciples saw the man born blind and asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” “Neither this man nor his parents sinned,” said Jesus, “but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life. We may experience times of intense suffering on earth, but it’s nothing compared to what Jesus, the martyrs, and other men and women of the Bible went through. The fact is that David himself, the man after God’s own heart, experienced great adversity in his life, and in Psalm 23, he is trying to teach us that even in the worst of situations, we shall never be lacking, as long as we are in the care of the greatest shepherd imaginable.

David wasn’t preaching the prosperity gospel when he said, I shall ot be in want, he wasn’t saying life is going to be easy cause God’s gonna hook me up. He said, “The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not be in want” not “My Daddy’s the King, so check out my bling bling.” It’s easy to be content when things are going well. But David didn’t say, “I shall not be in want as long as I get what I want.”

Rick Warren, “It is a fatal mistake to assume that God’s goal for your life is material prosperity or popular success, as the world defines it. Faithfulness to God does not guarantee success in a career or even in ministry. Never focus on temporary crowns. Paul was faithful yet he ended up in prison. John the Baptist was faithful, but he was beheaded. Many a faithful person has been martyred and have lost everything or have come to the end of life with nothing to show for it. But that’s because the end of life is not the end of life.”

KEY #1. IS A CONVICTION THAT NOTHING OF AN EARTHLY NATURE EITHER LASTS OR SATISFIES.

ROMANS 8:28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.

KEY #2 IS A CONFIDENCE IN THE POWER, LOVE AND WISDOM OF GOD.

DANIEL 3:16-18 Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego replied to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to save us from it, and he will rescue us from your hand, O king. But even if he does not, we want you to know, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.”

(Most would be begging the King for their lives; but because the LORD was their shepherd, they were courteous, confident and content. Would you like to be that way when you face your boss, teacher, spouse, kids?)

Then

You need to know God’s Power (Bulletin).

You know God’s Love (In spite of love).

You know God’s Wisdom (Walnut Tree Analogy).

**** “EVEN IF” ARTICLE

When Theresa and I were in Portland, we spent time with a sister named Tracey. She currently has an article on the Portland Church’s website and I would like to read you some excerpts:

I picked my husband up from the airport on a Friday afternoon from 5 months of boot camp. Sunday, he told me that he had been involved in an affair, wasn’t in love with me any more, and by Monday afternoon he was on a plane to California. After six years of marriage, I was in Portland with two kids, $200.00 to my name, and no job. This time in my life was the most difficult experience I had ever faced and brought many nights filled with tears, anger and darkness. What made this so unbelievable to me and difficult to accept was the fact that we were disciples. This event wasn’t the catalyst that led me to seek Jesus - as many converts share in their personal testimonies. Instead, my husband and I had been disciples for over ten years. We had met, dated, and married as disciples. We both shared a common dream and passion of making a difference in this world by helping others to become Christians. We had relocated several times in different congregations to help build God’s church. We worked in the full time ministry for three years and served in many different leadership roles. Now, In a period of two days, my husband was gone and I was all alone. I became very angry at God and bitter in my spirit. The next six months were the hardest I had ever lived through. I wish I could share that I handled it with grace, courage, and faith but I didn’t. I got drunk, I was extremely angry, and struggled with sins that I hadn’t even thought about since I was baptized. I was asked out by non-Christians and asked out others. The funny thing is that the dates never worked out for whatever reasons. I believe in retrospect God protected me from myself during this time. In my heart I felt like, “what’s the point!” You do it God’s way and still end up in that 70% divorce group like the rest of the world! One night at the height of my bitterness I decided to read my Bible, a practice I had given up months earlier. I said a prayer, something along the line of, “God, you’re going to have to speak to me in a powerful way or we’re done. I can’t take it.” Then I did that thing where you flip your Bible open and just read where ever it lands. My Bible landed in Daniel 3, the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Verses 16-18 like a doubled-edged sword cut my heart that night. I realized that God could save my marriage but, “Even If.” “Even If,” two small words that changed me. I understood what my three Jewish heroes were saying to the king. They were saying that our lives are not about this moment, this furnace, or your idol, Oh King. We are bound for Heaven!

What are the things Satan is currently using to take away your faith? What are the traumatic experiences you have gone through where the nights have been a little darker? Have you had to grieve for the loss of loved ones, parents or family members? Have you given up on dreams you held so dear to your heart at one time? Maybe your children aren’t doing well spiritually and your heart burns for them? Perhaps finances or the lack of them has left you tossing and turning on your bed at night? It might be chronic health issues or frightening diagnoses received from doctors? Maybe it’s the battle of surrendering to life as a single and the accompanied anger towards God as to why your knight in shining armor has never arrived. It might be that you are a young Christian and have not had an “Even If ” moment. Are you prepared for the furnace that we all face as Christians at some point? Whatever you are going through, I believe the “Even If” heart that beats with a surrendered spirit to God is what will make a difference between simply surviving or overcoming the challenges that Satan brings. “Even If” Satan brings down the whole world on top of us, we have a God who is faithful, loving, merciful, and is preparing a room for us in heaven. He is able to rescue us and will rescue us, but “Even If” the worst happens, we can hold to our faith and one day make it into eternity with him.

Categories: Lord is my Shepherd, Sermons