Sermon Notes – January 31, 2016 A Roadmap for Life:

Road Rage James 4:1-12

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Bible Reading Plan

2016-17 Bible Reading Plan OT, NT & Poetry: Week 5

Monday Genesis 27

Matthew 10:34-42

Psalm 20

Tuesday Genesis 28

Matthew 11:1-19

Psalm 21

Wednesday Genesis 29:1-30

Matthew 11:20-12:8

Psalm 22:1-13

Thursday Genesis 29:31-30:43

Matthew 12:9-21

Psalm 22:14-31

Friday Genesis 31

Matthew 12:22-37

Psalm 23

Discussion Questions

What are some of the dumbest things you’ve fought over? Why did you fight about those things?

What are things from which people keep trying to find contentment?

According to v. 2-3, what are some reasons we don’t get what we want?

What is God jealous of in v.5?

What is the path to finding true contentment and satisfaction out of life? (v. 7-10)

Monday – Why We Fight By Kel Cunard

“What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you?” James 4:1

When anger meets hunger, bad things happen. Sometimes, you're just plain

hangry. In February of 2009, a woman walked into a Fort Pierce, Florida

McDonald's and ordered a 10-piece McNugget meal. (Why does every odd story

seem to happen in Florida?) The cashier took the order, received the payment

and turned to dish out the pre-formed, bite-sized, deep-fried chicken products.

And that's when the story took a turn for the worse.

When the cashier returned to the counter, he shared some disappointing

news. He apologetically informed the customer they were out of McNuggets, but

she could order anything else from their extensive menu. She gritted her teeth

and asked for her money back. The employee then made matters worse by

following corporate policy. He stated that all sales are final, but she could even

order a more expensive item for no additional charge if she wanted.

When you want McNuggets, I guess nothing else will do because the woman

lost it. She didn't want a Big Mac. No McRib sandwiches for her, and heaven

help anyone who suggested a McSalad. This moment was a full blown hanger

emergency, so the woman did what anyone would do in an emergency. She

called 911… three times! She never got her McNuggets, but she did receive a

visit from the police and a ticket for abusing 911.

What causes fights and quarrels among us? I am convinced our hunger is the

culprit. Not for food, or even McNuggets, but I believe we are all a bit hangry

from time to time. We hunger for satisfaction, and we move from fight to fight

seeking an ever-elusive contentment that never comes. Once we fight and win,

we discover the hollowness of the victory and our hunger and anger escalate.

When the next conquest doesn't satisfy, we try another, and another, and

another leaving a string of hurt feelings and broken relationships in our wake.

Our anger lingers like a low-grade fever always waiting to spike.

Our hunger and anger problem is an emergency, but it's nothing 911 can

solve. We fight for a satisfaction that will never come because we are looking in

all the wrong places. Read James 4:1-10.

C.S. Lewis said, "If we find ourselves with a desire that nothing in this world

can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that we were made for another

world." This world cannot satisfy a spiritual hunger it was never meant to fulfill.

The One who created us placed a God-shaped void in our hearts, and He is the

only thing that can or will ever satisfy us. Along the road of life, stop striving to

find empty solutions to eternal problems. The Lord wants you to stop fighting for

what you think you want, so you can receive what you always desired. Your

Heavenly Father wants you to find your satisfaction in Him and Him alone.

Tuesday – Wedding Day Blues By Cathy Slusser

“A quarrelsome wife is like the constant dripping of a leaky roof.” Proverbs 19:13

As our 35th wedding anniversary approaches, Glen and I have been

reminiscing about our wedding day. It was a typical 1980s Southern church

wedding. I made my own dress and arranged the flowers. My mom made the

tablecloths, and the church ladies served finger foods, cake, and punch in the

church fellowship hall. What may or may not have been typical is the huge fight

Glen and I had in the car after the reception.

Between the church and the hotel, only a few minutes' drive, we stopped at

the house Glen owned to get his suitcase. Almost to the house, he told me to

just stay in the car while he ran inside, but I insisted on getting out of the car.

Truth be told, I wanted the neighbors to see me in my wedding gown. I was

ashamed to admit that, so argued I could help him with his suitcase. He told me

that was a dumb idea. Then, I went into a tirade that I partially blame on

wedding jitters and fatigue. “I am not dumb. You called me dumb!” “No, I said

your idea was dumb. You will get sand spurs in your dress.” I cried until we

arrived at the house and he said, “Do what you want. I don’t care.” His door

slammed as I struggled to get out of the car with my dress billowing around me.

By the time I got out and walked halfway to the house, he was already putting

his suitcase into the trunk. I never knew if any of the neighbors saw me and

quietly pulled sandspurs out of my dress the rest of the way to the hotel.

I wish I could say that was our first and only

fight, but we were both too hard headed and

selfish to learn a lesson so easily. Pride often got

in the way of reconciliation and peace. What I

wish I had known on that day so long ago is that

getting married would not satisfy the deepest

longings of my heart. Only God could do that.

Being noticed by the neighbors, having a house of our own, earning my

husband’s respect; those would not solve my problems of selfishness and

insecurity. Until I learned to put my hope in Christ and lean on Him for fulfillment,

I could not know peace in my heart or my household.

Read Proverbs 19:11-13. How do patience and forgiveness contribute to a

peaceful household? What do you think the writer of Proverbs means by

comparing a King’s rage to the roar of a lion? Could people say the same thing

about you? Or are you someone who constantly nags and complains? What

needs to change in your life to soothe your lion’s roar or constant dripping?

Pride often got in the way of reconciliation and peace.

Wednesday – Satisfaction By Mackenzie Ridenour

“Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone. If possible, on your part, live at peace with everyone.” Romans 12:17

The Bible tells us that quarrels, fights, and arguments have no place in the

church and in the body of Christ. We are to “live at peace with everyone.” But

often times, we as Christians do the opposite. We harbor grudges, we speak

malicious words, we debate between denominations on whose theology is truly

“correct.” We are unkind, and we seek revenge. Why is this? How do we truly

“live at peace with everyone”?

Before offering a solution, let’s look at a possible root for discord. James

chapter 4 gives us an answer: “what causes fights and quarrels among you?

Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you?” (ver 1). What does

this mean? It means that when we hold on to selfish ambitions and desires

(anything that is desired or sought out for self-glory and not the glory of God),

then we are seeking to be satisfied either by our own doing or by the doing of

another. Since humans are imperfect anything done in human strength will

eventually fail, leading to dissatisfaction and disappointment.

Where then can we find this satisfaction, in order to live at peace among one

another? True and abundant satisfaction can only be found in perfection. And

our perfect Lord and Savior is the only source that can give us exactly that. It is

only in Jesus that we find worth; it is only in Jesus that we find joy; it is only in

Jesus that we should place our greatest affections and desires. Jesus is the only

place we will ever find lasting peace and love. It is only through Him that we can

live in harmony with each other because with Him as our satisfier we will never

be disappointed! Our hope and trust is not based on what we can do, or

someone can do for us, but on what our Father has done and is doing.

James 4:8 says to “Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you.” Take

some time this morning to ask God to seek your heart. Ask Him to reveal any

deep-rooted bitterness and dissatisfaction and for Him to free you from that.

Draw near to the Lord, and He will draw near to you, satisfying every desire He

has given you. His Spirit in you is ready to supply you with peace and love and

true satisfaction! Choose today to walk in His peace and find your satisfaction in

Christ alone.

Thursday – Heart Surgery By Amy Pilson

“And the Lord your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your offspring so that you will love the Lord your God

with all your heart and with all your soul that you may live.” Deuteronomy 30:6

We were made for companionship with God. He draws us to Himself. He

courts us as a man does a woman. We were made to long for Him. There’s a

place in our hearts that can only be filled by Him. The problem is that we tend to

try and fill it with other things or other people.

Those of us in relationships often end up wanting respect from our partner.

We long for that approval or affirmation. We want the other person to meet our

emotional needs. Too often we want those things without having to tell the other

person what it is that we need. We want them to just know what it is that we

want or need. We feel that it is something that they should know if they truly love

us. The problem is that we are looking in the wrong place; to the wrong person.

If we look to God to be that person who sustains us (Ps. 55:22) we will not be

disappointed. He knows our hearts. He knows our very soul. He collects our

tears in a bottle (Ps. 56:8) when we are hurting. He sings over us (Zep. 3:17)

when we celebrate. He intercedes for us when we feel something so deeply that

we can’t find the right words (Rom. 8:26). He longs to give us the desires of our

hearts if we delight ourselves in Him (Ps. 37:4).

What would happen if we looked to God for those

things that we seek from our spouse, family or friends?

Might things be more peaceful within ourselves as well

as in our relationships if we gave our hearts to Him

completely – very much in the way we want that special

someone to give their hearts to us? If our focus is on

growing closer to God and allowing Him to guide us

might not our relationships end up being more of what we long for it to be? He

has cut away our heart in such a way that only He can fill it completely. And He

will continue to cut out other things that stand between Him and us.

Read Deuteronomy 10:12-11:21.

We want them to just know what it is that we want or need.

Friday – The Lost Virtue By Nick Molick

“And the Lord said, 'Hear what the unrighteous judge says. And will not God give justice to his elect, who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long over them? I tell you, he will give justice to them speedily. Nevertheless, when the

Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?'” Luke 18:6-8

We often hear how patience is a virtue, but if we all know this, what

happened? How did patience get lost in our daily lives? How did it become

something we will aspire to one day only after we have everything else on our

schedule taken care of? The uncomfortable answer is we have become so self-

centered that our lives become all about us. Our primary focus is what we want

and what we need and not what God has for us. Our plans trump His plans for

our lives.

Throughout this series, we have seen how God’s will for our life is not

necessarily a destination but rather a direction, a journey, a path. So what is

required on a journey or a road trip? Patience, we all know this to be one of the

greatest requirements of any trip because we have been the ones asking and

answering “Are we there yet?!” We all want to travel efficiently, make great time

and know we are going the right direction. The same is true for our spiritual

lives. We want to know we are on the dot or center of God’s will for our lives. We

want to know we are advancing His kingdom. However, if we are honest, we

don’t live in that dot often enough. We have doubts. We have struggles. And at

times, we fail and this can lead to us being impatient with God.

God loves us even with our failures and sin, but He is always teaching us and

helping us to become more like Jesus. Christ exhibited otherworldly patience in

His earthly ministry. (Whether it was dealing with the Pharisees and their false

teaching or teaching his own apostles who seemed to be so close to the truth

while at the same time being so far off from it.) Christ through all of this showed

patience, strength, grace, and mercy. That is the model we need to have in our

lives. We need to exhibit a patience that makes the world say “how do they do

that?” and use that moment as an opportunity to show them Jesus.

I don’t write this as one with a stranglehold on the virtue of patience. It's really

just the opposite. I like working efficiently and effectively and being able to

produce a report which shows I’m doing just that. Nevertheless, this is not

always how God’s economy works in our earthly lives. He promises speedy

justice in Luke 18:6-8, but God’s speedy and our speedy often don’t agree. Our

loving Father in Heaven, who is outside of space and time, has a different take

on time. Let us model the Son and His love, patience, and grace so that we can

be more like Him every day.

Read Romans 5:22. What would change in our perspectives if we rightly saw

patience as a fruit of the Spirit instead of a virtue?

Weekend – Why the Wait? By Kel Cunard

“You also, be patient.” James 5:8

If there is one thing I hate, it's standing in line. While our family was in New

York one Christmas to celebrate with my brother's clan, my wife (an avid

scrapbooker) had her heart set on going to Macy's so our boys could have their

picture taken with Santa Claus. Because I have come to realize a happy spouse

makes a happy house, we, of course, went to Macy's. When I saw the line, it

seemed long but manageable. What I did not know is how much of the line we

couldn't see. Over the next three hours, the queue weaved its way down every

service corridor in the store. It zigged through the baby department and zagged

through the fine china. They even had a loop around the offices where the old

building's radiators were apparently set to full blast. By the time we reached

Santa, I was a bit sweaty and anything but jolly. To top it all off, the St. Nick we

saw was annoyingly skinny. Merry Christmas!

We are all born with a few natural strengths, but very few of us can claim

patience as one of them. And yet, the pattern of life often forces us to wait for

things that are far more consequential than a photographic keepsake.

Why does our Heavenly Father make us wait? How should we respond when

He does? In preparation for this Sunday's sermon, read James 5:7-18 and

consider what we should do when the road seems far too long.

“”

Pray for the World: Barbados The island nation of Barbados is an independent state and Commonwealth realm

with Queen Elizabeth II as the head of state. Located in the Eastern Caribbean and

possessing only 166 square miles of land, its beauty and beaches make it a popular

tourist destination. Pray for:

External challenges to the gospel are evident – increased activity in and

acceptance of the occult as well as intensified efforts by Muslims and Mormons to

win those disillusioned with what they see of traditional Christianity. Pray for the

confounding of these efforts and for true Christians to powerfully demonstrate God’s

love and truth.

Young people desperately need spiritual guidance. The culture of immorality is

pervasive, and even church-going teens are subject to its temptations. Illegitimate

births and cohabitation are widespread. Pray that churches may offer effective

programs for children and youth, while demonstrating positive holiness. (taken from

operationworld.org).

Prepare for Worship As you prepare your heart for worship on Sunday morning read Psalm 100 and

come to church ready to enter His presence with singing.