I preached my first sermon on Thursday. It was to a small house church. I’m not a huge fan of public speaking and I certainly didn’t see myself giving a sermon month one. I also don’t care about speaking or even talking unless I feel that I have something to say. As the week went on and we were asked to give eight sermons between the seven of us, I began to think that maybe I did have something to say, or at least God had something to say through me. So I sat down to prepare. My plan was to write a sermon about comparison and how we each have something to offer for the kingdom; that our differences are actually wonderful and strengthen each other. Somehow when I finished writing I realized that I had written very little on comparison and essentially had a sermon on fear with a side of comparison. I felt like God had directed my writing so while I was a little unsure of giving a sermon on fear, I decided to go with it.
After I finished talking, they thanked me for my message and had a time of discussion. Almost every woman in the room emphasized how they needed to hear about fear, how they live in fear and don’t want to, and how they are thankful that God wants to use us for His plan, despite our fears and failures. We then prayed for each woman that they might be freed from their fear. As I write this, I’m still a little amazed that a sermon I didn’t want to write, that didn’t end up on what I meant to preach, and that I considered rewriting to be more like my original thought turned out to be exactly what the women in the room needed to hear. What a great first sermon experience. If you’re interested in reading the sermon, my notes are below.
“One of the struggles we face is fear. The fear of not being good enough, fear of not being accepted, fear of who we are not being what we should be, even fear that our desires are wrong. Sometimes that fear drives us forward and makes us into stronger people. Often however, that fear paralyzes us. It can keep us in a state of inaction and Satan can use our fear against us. He will tell us that we’re not enough and that the world would be better if we just held still.
This is a lie. This is not biblical. God says we are enough and where we are not enough, He will make us enough. Throughout the bible we see people who doubted their ability to be used.
In Exodus 3:11, Moses encounters the lord in the form of a burning bush. His first question is whether he is good enough. Let’s read Exodus 3:11-15 together.
Exodus 3:11-15,- “‘But who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?’ And God said ‘I will be with you. And this will be a sign to you that it is I who have sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will worship God on this mountain.’ Moses said to God, ‘suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, ‘the God of your fathers has sent me to you.’ And they ask me, ‘what is his name?’ Then what shall I tell them?’ God said to Moses, ‘I AM WHO I AM. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I AM has sent me to you.’
God goes on to promise that the nation of Israel will not only leave the Egyptians but will go with wealth. Still Moses doubts and the Lord gives him the ability to perform signs as proof that he was sent by God.
Still Moses says that he is not good enough. Let’s read Exodus 4:10-11
Exodus 4:10-11, “Moses said to the Lord, ‘O Lord, I have never been eloquent, neither in the past, nor since you have spoken to your servant. I am slow of speech and tongue.’ The Lord said to him, ‘who gave man his mouth? Who makes him dead or mute? Who gives him sight or makes him blind? Is it not I, the Lord?’ Now go; I will help you speak and will teach you what to say.'”
Still Moses has doubts, and though the Lord is angered, He offers to use Moses’ brother Aaron and help both of them know what to do. Moses got to be a part of God’s plan, but he didn’t get to be used fully, to be used the way God wanted to. I hope we can be brave enough to receive all God has for us.
Moses isn’t the only person God uses who had doubts, and he certainly wasn’t the only person who wasn’t perfect or made mistakes.
In Mark 14:66, we see a moment where the disciple Peter failed. Jesus said, “before the rooster crows twice you will disown me three times.” Yet in Matthew 16:18, Jesus has something to say about Peter. Let’s read Matthew 16:18-19.
Matthew 16:18-19, “And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”
We see that, even though Peter denied Christ, Christ used Peter to build His church. Peter may have failed Christ, but he was still an important part of God’s plan.
I believe that we are all part of God’s plan and that he gave us each a different piece of Heaven to bring to earth. Satan would have us dwell in comparison, in the possibility of failure, and in the fear that creates inaction. Christ sees both our strengths and imperfections and still wants to use us for His kingdom. He loves us just as we are. Let us try not to waste too much time on “why me?”
or comparing ourselves to those we think could do it better. Instead, let us delight in who God made us to be and use what He’s given us for His plans.
Let us not be so afraid of doing wrongly, that we never do at all. God has given us desires and He delights in our passions. Let us be who we are while prayerfully seeking after God. Donald Miller, an author and speaker, gives the illustration of God as a loving father who wants to give us paper and markers and then delights in seeing what we do with them. I may draw a mountain, and you may draw a city, but all of our drawings will be loved by our Father if we are using our gifts and passions and walking with Him.
But when the time comes where we feel too small, or not enough, let’s remember that we serve a God who is enough and who can use our failures or our weaknesses for good. We will fail, but God can even use those failures.
Hebrews 11:23-29 tells Moses’ story. Let’s read.
Hebrews 11:23-29, “By faith Moses’ parents hid him for three months after he was born, because they saw he was no ordinary child, and they were not afraid of the king’s edict. By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be known as the son of the Pharaoh’s daughter. He choose to be mistreated along with the people of God rather than enjoy the pleasures of sin for a short time. He regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt, because he was looking ahead to his reward. By faith he left Egypt, not fearing the king’s anger; he persevered because he saw him who is invisible. By faith he kept the Passover and the sprinkling of blood, so that the destroyer of the firstborn would not touch the firstborn of Israel. By faith the people passed through the Red Sea as on dry land; but when the Egyptians tried to do so, they were drowned.”
God used Moses, despite his insecurities and his failures.
Hebrews 11 brings me comfort because it reminds me that we may not always know how God will use us in His plans but we can know that He can and will use us. The passage tells the stories of men and women who lived by faith. Each story was used towards God’s plan of salvation, but these men and women didn’t have the advantage of knowing how their story would work out as they were living it. They may have even felt like their story didn’t work out the way they wanted it to, but the promises of God were fulfilled, sometimes after their deaths. Hebrews 11:39-40 tells us about this when it says,
Hebrews 11:39-40, “These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised. God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect.”
God can use our differences and our individual desires to work for His great plan. We only have to have faith and be willing. Hebrews 11 defines faith and commends those who lives by it. Let’s end with Hebrews 11:1-2.
Hebrews 11:1-2 “now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. This is what the ancients were commended for.”
Thank you for your time and my prayer for all of us is that we live a life we can be commended for, a life of faith.”
