Glad to be back in this forum with you.....it is has been awhile! Thank you for the emails, calls and inquiries concerning the whereabouts of our blog. Lots to catch up on but simply put, GOD IS GOOD. He has been blessing our Church and the ministry keeps us moving.
On Sunday we graduated our third Sunday School Christian leadership School group who studied #1004 Effective Bible Reading. We praise God for 38 students who completed the course. Special thanks to our instructor for this class, Sister Angelia Forrest. We begin the Baptist Doctrine class next week where I will have the honor of teaching for the next 8 weeks,
On Sunday, our church was blessed with special guests, The members of Zeta Phi Beta Sorority and Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity. We bless God for their presence. We were also blessed that Coach Ernest Jones of the University of Notre Dame Football team brought with him Jaylon Smith who is the number one player in Notre Dame's recent signing class as a Linebacker.
Coach Jones is the Director of Player Development and Engagement. Our church tries to help student-athletes make the transition to South Bend and partners with families who send athletes to a Catholic school but are not of the Catholic faith. It was an honor to meet this young man.
I began a series of sermons on EL ROI, THE GOD THAT SEES from Genesis 16:1-16 using Hagar as our witness to teach us about another attribute of God. It is impossible to know what God can do for you unless you really know who he is. Since you can't divorce God's name from His nature, what He is HE will do.
The sermon was received well. I felt I was rusty and too academic in my presentation but the Church and visitors was blessed. My goal every Sunday is to give the listener enough information that they should leave church ready to put the sermon they just listened to into action by writing and living the sermon in their own words in the company of people who weren't at church but still need a word.
The main point of Sunday's message was, "Don't throw away your future because of mistakes you have made in your past"! The account in Genesis shows us three different people's reactions to handling failure. The reality in life is WE ALL FAIL! Some people try and deny it, cover it up, lie about it but WE ALL FAIL!
How do you handle your Failures? Abram failed as a Man! In tradition we blame Sarai for introducing the deceit of sleeping with Hagar but in reality the failure rests with the man. Simply put, Abram is the one that introduced sin into his house. He taught his wife how to lie by example. Genesis 12:11-13. His lie benefited him in sheep, cattle, goats, donkeys, male and female servants.
Abram's lie is the beginning of Hagar being brought into his home. It stands to reason had Abram never lied in the first place, there is no Hagar for Sarai to suggest to sleep with. It is impossible to ever enter into sin and expect to come out clean. There is always some residue effect left behind.
When this failure hits Abram, his response is to be UNACCOUNTABLE. He simply acts like its not his fault. This is a fight between Hagar and Sarai. In the playground, we would say something like My name is BENNET AND I'M NOT IN IT.
Sarai failed as a manager of the home. She made the mistake of trying to HELP GOD. God has promised Abram a seed will come but its been ten years since the initial conversation and still there is no child. She decided that God is moving to slow so she would help Him, We often times are guilty of the sin of trying to play GOD in our lives and we substitute our Isaac blessings with Ishmael Burdens.
Sarai's response to failure was being UNREASONABLE. She blames Abram, she blamed Hagar, she even blamed God but she never took responsibility for her own actions. She spoke with an Unbridled tongue and an Unleashed temper. Many homes have been wrecked by women with a runaway tongue and an uncontrollable temper,
Hagar failed as a Maid. She began to see herself as the wife instead of realizing she was just the maid. Just because you sleep with the husband, it doesn't make you the wife.When reality kicks in Hagar decided that the answer to her problems was flight.
Hagar's response to Failure was to become UNAVAILABLE. She just packed up and left to get away from the problem. This is the most common response of all! When problems arise at church, don't seek a solution, seek a new church. When problems arise on the job, don't fix it, find a new job. When problems crop up in the marriage, don't work it out, just find yourself a new mate.
I end today's blog by simply saying when we fail, no matter how we choose to deal with it, thank God there is still a God who sees. He sees where we run, where we hide, where we flee, where we escape. When we don't look for HIM, HE comes looking for us. Gen 16:7 The Bible says the angel of the Lord found her.
I am so glad the Lord found me. When I had abandoned my future, thrown away my dreams, given up on my life, the Lord found me.
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