Lift Up Your Drooping
Hands!
Part 1
Sermon Notes
July 25, 2010
Rev. Jim O’Neal, Senior Pastor
(480) 895-8766
Hebrews 12:12-14 NRSV
12Therefore lift your
drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees, 13and make straight
paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be put out of joint, but
rather be healed. 14Pursue
peace with everyone, and the holiness without which no one will see the Lord.
A.
Introduction
1. Don’t make me go to school, momma!
a.
There are times none of us want to face the world. “Get up and get ready for school,” said the
mother to her son. From under the covers
came her boy’s protest, “Ah, Mom, I don’t want to go!” Mother implored again, “Come on, get
up!” Peeking one eye out from the sheets
her son made this pitiful plea, “Oh Mom, it’s awful. The kids don’t like me. The teachers are all
against me. Even the janitor hates
me!” Mom persisted, “Son, you’ve got to
go to school. You’re forty years old and
you’re the principal!”
b.
We all have days like that.
Days when you don’t want to face the world. Days when everything seem to go wrong and you
just can’t win.
2. Today’s Scripture: Hebrews 12:12
a.
The Bible gives us hope. Today’s
Scripture says, “Lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees!” (Hebrews 12:12 NRSV) J. B.
Phillips puts it this way in his translation:
“So take a fresh grip on life and brace your
trembling limbs!” (Hebrews 12:12 JBPT)
b.
Don’t quit! Don’t quit;
that is what the author of Hebrews is telling us. It’s no time to cave in or give up. It’s a time to stand up and a time to be
mentally tough! This morning I will
share two Biblical principles for dealing with adversity. Next Sunday I will share two more.
B.
Persistence!
1. Cyrus McCormick
a.
Cyrus McCormick’s father was a mechanical genius and had invented
many farm devices, but he had become the laughingstock of the county on account
of his failure to make a grain cutting device operate successfully. Cyrus’ father had worked 28 years, but was
unable to make his grain reaper work effectively. In spite of the discouragements of his father
and the ridicule of neighbors, young McCormick took up the old machine, and
after four years of experiment and failure, finally succeeded in 1831 of constructing
a reaper which would cut grain. Even
then it was not smooth sailing. It took
another nine years to refine the machine, set up a manufacturing plant and produce
reapers for sale to the public. However
in the midst of this process came a financial crisis referred to as the Panic
of 1837. Banks lost trust in paper money
and would only accept silver or gold coins.
Many banks failed; there was record high unemployment, and a depression
that lasted for five years. People were
fearful and short of cash. Cyrus
McCormick came up with two ideas. First,
he guaranteed a full refund if people were not fully satisfied with his
machine, and then secondly to make his machine affordable and available right
away he created the monthly installment plan.
b.
Farmers then bought the McCormick reaper and were delighted. With McCormick’s grain reaper two men and one
horse could cut as much grain as a crew of twelve to sixteen men could do by
hand. A farmer with a reaper could cut
ten acres per day whereas the best that two men could do by hand would be two
to three acres. In 1844 McCormick went
nationwide with his machine. The grain
reaper would revolutionize farming and make Cyrus McCormick a
multi-millionaire. And it happened
because Cyrus McCormick would not give up.
He was persistent.
2. Hebrews 12:1-3
a.
The Bible encourages us to be persistent and to not give up. The 12th Chapter of Hebrews says: “Let us run with
determination the race that lies before us.
Let us keep our eyes fixed on Jesus, on whom our faith depends from
beginning to end. He did not give up
because of the cross! On the contrary,
because of the joy that was waiting for him, he thought nothing of the disgrace
of dying on the cross, and he is now seated at the right side of God’s
throne. Think of what he went through;
how he put up with so much hatred from sinners!
So do not let yourselves become discouraged or
give up.” (Hebrews 12:1b-3 TEV)
b. The author goes on to state how small
our difficulties are compared to what the Lord endured. By faith Jesus persevered and now sits at the
right hand of God. If you and I hang in
there, we will not only get through the struggles, but will triumph by His
grace!
3. Acorn
a.
An unknown poet said it well:
“Don’t worry if your job is small
and your rewards are few. Remember that
the mighty oak was once a nut like you!”
b.
Sometimes in life it is just a matter of hanging on. Sometimes what is most needed is to be
persistent; to keep working at this thing called life. Don’t give up. As our poem reminds us, “The giant oak is just an acorn that held its ground.”
C.
Positive Attitude!
1. Diary of daily input
a.
A few years ago, an interesting study was conducted. A large group of people recruited by a
research center were told to record everything that came into their minds each
day for a year and a half. The daily
diary began each morning. If they
watched a morning news show, they recorded whether the input was positive or
negative. Then they kept track of everything
else that happened all day. Then after a
year and a half the results were analyzed.
Ninety per cent of the time people received negative input!
b.
It’s no wonder we get depressed, feel unable to cope, to achieve,
or to succeed.
2. Dean Martin’s Dream
a.
“At Church summer camp one year, Dean Martin was the
leader!” These were the opening words
spoken by a young pastor at a Church Growth Seminar I attended some years
back. He talked about one of his
favorite leaders: “His actual name was
Walter Martin, and to this day I have never forgotten his name or the story he
shared around the campfire. Dean Martin
told us teens about a dream he had some twenty years earlier. He dreamed he had died and stood there at the
Pearly Gates while scenes of his life flashed before him. Scenes like his son reaching out one Saturday
to talk to him, but he was too busy trimming the bushes. Then he saw his daughter trying to get his
attention, but all he could do was criticize her clothing. Next he saw himself criticizing his wife’s
cooking and stomping on her aspirations of higher education. Then there were scenes from work where he was
so afraid of failure that he did not take the test for a chance at a better
job. And he remembers telling himself,
‘I’m not good enough.’”
b.
“Mr. Martin said he awoke with a start, and with the realization
that he was dead. No not physically
dead, but emotionally and spiritually. He
was dead and blind to the good things around him, denying of the positive
blessings in his life, and unappreciative of the loving people in his
life. He was dead because he had filled
his mind with doubt, despair, failure, and a constantly critical attitude. He had failed to see the faith, hope and love
around him. He then said, ‘From that moment on I decided to count
my blessings and to see and affirm the good in those around me. And it has made all the difference in the
world.’” A positive attitude does
make a huge difference.
3. Thomas Hearn
a.
Thomas Hearn was a man with a positive mental attitude. Hearn was an early American explorer and
settler. On one expedition, in
retaliation for the harsh treatment they had received at the hands of another
group of white settlers, some Native Americans stole most of the Hearn party’s
supplies. Thomas Hearn’s startling
journal entry for the next day was: “The weight of our luggage being so much
lightened, our journey was more swift and pleasant.”
b. Life is not always
positive or fair. We will be
disappointed at times. We certainly
don’t have control over the negatives that get thrown our way each day. But we do have control of our response to
them! We can determine to make our
responses in life to be positive!
Through the development of a positive attitude of faith and hope we can
dispel worry and unhappiness. Trust the
Biblical promise: “Cast all
your anxiety on him, because he cares for you.” (1 Peter 5:7 NRSV) By
refusing to focus on the ugly and the degrading, by turning instead to that
which is good, loving, noble and beautiful we can change our lives for the
better! “Finally, beloved, whatever is
true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is
pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is
anything worthy of praise, think about these things. Keep on doing the things that you have learned
and received and heard and seen in me, and the God of peace will be with you.” (Philippians 4:8-9 NRSV) For every negative word that comes to you
each day, recite one of God’s positive promises from the Bible, count your
blessings and focus on the good in those around you. Do this and your life will be changed for the
good.
D.
Conclusion: We all have difficult days. The Bible offers us hope. In the midst of tough times, there are four
keys to finding victorious living.
1. Today, we hear the call to embrace two of these important words for our
life:
a. Persistence!
b. Positive Attitude!
2. Next Sunday, we add these two:
a. People to help
you.
b. Prayer.
Lift Up Your Drooping Hands!
In the midst of tough times,
there are four keys to finding victorious
living:
1. Persistence!
2. Positive Attitude!
3. People to help you.
4. Prayer.
Hebrews 12:12-14 NRSV
12Therefore lift your drooping hands and strengthen your
weak knees, 13and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is
lame may not be put out of joint, but rather be healed.
14Pursue peace with everyone, and
the holiness without which no one will see the Lord.
Deuteronomy 17:8-13 NRSV
8Then Amalek
came and fought with