Lift Up Your Drooping
Hands!
Part 2
Sermon Notes
Saturday, July 31,
2010 & Sunday, August 1, 2010
Rev. Jim O’Neal, Senior Pastor
(480) 895-8766
Exodus 17:8-13 NRSV
8Then Amalek came and fought
with
A.
Introduction
1. Surprise her with flowers! (His intentions were good!)
a.
Some days nothing you do seems to be right. Fred was driving home from work and turned on
the radio. His wife had left the car
radio tuned into the easy listening station.
Dr. Love was filling in for the afternoon show and he had some advice
for the men. Dr. Love said, “Men stop
taking that special lady for granted.
Spice up your love life. Do
something nice for your girl friend or wife.
When you arrive home this evening, don’t growl, ‘When’s dinner going to
be ready?’ Instead surprise her with a
little gift and a great big kiss!”
b.
So Fred decided he would take the advice. He got his wife Wanda a box of her favorite chocolate
candy and a bouquet of flowers. Instead
of driving into the garage, he parked out front and went up and rang the
doorbell. Wanda opened the door and saw
Fred standing there on the front porch with a silly grin on his face and
holding his gifts out to her. Angrily
she said, “Listen buster, the baby has colic, the washing machine broke, Junior
got expelled from school for fighting with another boy, and now, as I might
have expected, you make my day by coming home drunk!”
c.
Some days you just can’t win.
You hurt a friend’s feelings. A
loved one betrays you. The doctor brings
you bad news. You have a financial setback. The difficulty may be of your own doing or
you may have had the best of intentions and still things went wrong. And it hurts.
You struggle for meaning and to even face the day.
2. Hebrews 12:12
a.
The Bible gives us hope. Remember
the encouraging words from last Sunday’s Scripture: “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! Last Sunday I shared two
Biblical principles for dealing with adversity:
Persistence and a Positive Attitude.
Today, I share two more.
B.
People to help you.
1. Today’s Scripture: Exodus 17:8-13
a.
Having persistence and a positive attitude go a long way in
helping you find victorious living.
However, we all need help. God
did not make us to be solitary creatures.
We need others to cope and conquer in this thing called life. There are times when others are absolutely
necessary. There are moments when the
help of a caring friend is not only beneficial, but essential. It is especially important that we lift up
one another’s hands when we are having one of those tough days and we don’t
want to face the world.
b.
Think about that memorable scene in the Book of Exodus that was
read today. The Israelites have gone to
war against the Amalekites. On a nearby hill stands Moses with the staff
of God clutched in his hands. This staff
or rod represented God’s power and presence to and with the children of
c.
There are times when all of us need someone to help lift our
drooping hands. Sometimes, even with our
best attempts at persistence and a positive attitude, we need the help of
others. Do not be afraid to reach out
for the help you need. There is someone
who cares and they will be there for you.
2. Boy Scouts make tracks!
a. A troop of Boy
Scouts were hiking in the country, and discovered to their delight a stretch of
abandoned and rusted railroad tracks. It
was an elevated section, about six feet high, which went across a sandy and dry
stream bed. Each boy tried his skill at
walking on one of the rails to cross the creek. The best any of them could do was to walk a
few feet before falling onto the sand below.
Then two of the boys found a solution.
One stood on the rail on the right side and the other on the rail on the
left. As they each started to walk they
extended their arms and grabbed the other boy’s hand. This helped both of them to keep their
balance, and they briskly walked along the railroad tracks to the other side!
b.
There are times when we need to reach out to others for help. There is a relative who cares. There is a friend who will listen. Here at our Church, we have trained Stephen
Ministers and Pastors who will walk with you through your difficult time. When
you are going through a tough time, don’t be afraid to reach out.
C.
Prayer.
1. Two compasses
a.
Before the days of GPS or even radio communications and beacons,
ships crossing the
b.
Do we do that as Christians?
Do we look to the “higher” guide?
Above all others we need God. And
we get in tune with God’s Spirit through prayer.
2. Poem:
“THE KNEELING CAMEL”
a.
The poet Anna Temple put it this way:
The camel at the close of day kneels down
upon the sandy plain
to have his burden lifted off, and rest to gain.
My soul, thou too shouldst
to thy knees when daylight draweth to a close,
and let thy Master lift thy load, and grant repose.
Else how canst thou tomorrow meet, with
all tomorrow's work to do,
if thou thy burden all the night dost carry through?
The camel kneels at break of day to have
his guide replace his load;
then rises up anew to take the desert road.
So thou shouldst
kneel at morning's dawn, that God may give the daily care,
assured that He no load too great will make thee bear.
b. Friends, God is
not far away. We know how to reach the Almighty. Biblical scholars assure us that we know
God’s phone number. God likes the old
way of doing phone numbers. God’s number
is Jeremiah 33:3… “Call to me and I will answer you.” (Jeremiah 33:3a
NRSV) God is as near as prayer. God is
there to help you lift those drooping hands.
The Lord is there and He will help you get through the tough times and
to find the victory that only He can give!
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. Last Sunday, we heard the call to embrace two of these important
words for our life:
a. Persistence!
b. Positive Attitude!
2. Today, 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.
Exodus 17:8-13 NRSV
8Then Amalek
came and fought with
THE KNEELING CAMEL
By
Anna
Temple
This is the
correct version from her book.
I found a
copy on line at the
The
Kneeling Camel
and Other Poems
By
Anna Temple
Moffat,
Yard & Company
1920
The
camel at the close of day
Kneels
down upon the sandy plain
To
have his burden lifted off,
And rest to gain.
My
soul, thou too shouldst to thy knees
When
daylight draweth to a close,
And
let thy Master lift thy load,
And grant repose.
Else
how canst thou tomorrow meet,
With
all tomorrow's work to do,
If
thou thy burden all the night
Dost carry through?
The
camel kneels at break of day
To
have his guide replace his load;
Then
rises up anew to take
The desert road.
So
thou shouldst kneel at morning's dawn,
That
God may give the daily care,
Assured
that He no load too great
Will make thee bear.