Voice of the Nazarene 5-26-24

I'm coming to you from North Central Ohio, we share with you the voice of the Nazarene. A WEEK BY WEEK venture into the Word of God sponsored by the Bucyrus, Ohio Church of the Nazarene. We join our Pastor Reverend Ray Lasalle and the voice of the Nazarene.

Like to turn in your Bibles or to follow on the screen, Acts chapter nine, verse 36. Now there was at Joppa a certain disciple named Tabitha, which by interpretation

this woman was full of good works, and the almsdeeds which she did. And it came to pass in those days, that

whom when they had washed, they laid her in an upper chamber. And for as much as Lydda was nigh to Joppa, and the disciples had heard that Peter was there, they sent unto him two men, desiring him that he would not delay to come to them. Then Peter arose and went with them. When he was come, they brought him into the upper chamber: and all the widows stood by him weeping, and shewing the coats and garments which Dorcas made, while she was with them. But Peter put all them forth, and kneeled down, and prayed; and turning him to the body said Tabitha, arise.

And she opened her eyes: and when she saw Peter, she sat up.

And he gave her his hand, and lifted her up, and when he had called the saints and widows, presented her alive. And it was known throughout all Joppa; and many believed in the Lord. And it came to pass, thst he tarried many days in Joppa with one Simon a tanner. Winston Churchill said we make a living by what we get. But we make a life by what we give, we make a living by what we get. But we make a life by what we give. And evidently Sir Winston Churchill had made a great discovery when he realized and understood that satisfaction and tranquility and peace, and fulfillment in life comes through serving others.

It's not about serving yourself, it's not about yourself, it's serving others. Can I give you a little piece of advice? Really, I promise you that if you live your life concentrating on trying to make the dreams of others come true, you'll wake up one day to find that your own dreams have come true. If you'll concentrate on trying to make life better for others, one day, you'll wake up and find that you had a good life. Because your focus was not on me. It was on others. And I challenge you serve, learn to serve, don't sit and soak. I believe that we're all created to serve. Now I'm not suggesting here today in this crowd are the Latter Day Saints. They'll be here in just a little 11 o'clock. But I challenge you not because there's work to be done around BNC or task or chores. But I challenge you if you'll serve you will experience the joy and the fulfillment and the rewards that come with serving, it's the greatest feeling in the world.

Salvation Army was founded by William Booth. He lay dying and they were having their large convocation the largest they would have. Every few years they would have it like we call general assembly. They sent word back to the dying founder. Is there anything that you would want to say? And a telagram returned back to them and all it said was two words, others, others. And sometimes it's just good to give away the praise and the honor to others. I want you to watch Kevin Durant just for a moment.

One of the best memories I had is when we moved into our first apartment. No, no bed, no furniture. And we just are sitting in a living room and just hug each other because we thought we made it. And when something good happens to you, I don't know about you guys, but I tend to look back to what brought me here. You wake me up in the middle of the night, in the summer times, making me run up the hill, making me do push ups, screaming at me from the side and my games at eight or nine years old. We weren't supposed to be here. You made us believe, you kept us off the street, put clothes on our back, food on the table. When you didn't eat, you made sure we ate you went to sleep hungry. You sacrificed for us you're really the MVP.

Evidently Kevin Durant's mother had made a tremendous difference. I want to talk to you today about a lady that made a great difference in the life of others. I've never really preached about her before in these many years, and maybe you have not thought much about her particular life. But there's four things I'd like to point out quickly this morning. First, her position. And if you look at verse 36, it says, Now there was a Joppa, a certain disciple, named Tabitha. A disciple. What is the disciple? A disciple is a fully committed follower of Jesus Christ. I didn't say she was a church member. And it didn't say that she had been baptized, didn't say that she had rubbed herself along the communion rail. It didn't even say she gave a lot of money. It didn't even say she was well known. It said she was a disciple, a fully committed follower of Jesus Christ. You know, it's important that every one of us have a right position before God, also. It's very important that you and I are disciples. I think it's important that all of us should serve the Lord with all of our might. The year was 1912, and a ship was leaving the port there in England heading toward New York. It was called the Titanic.

The most wealthy people in the world were aboard that great ship. Probably the most prominent people in all of time, were aboard the ship. There was actually 2224 people on board.

As it set sail on its maiden voyage. They had advertised even God can't sink this ship. You know the rest of the story, it hit an iceberg and more than 1500 people lost their lives.

And when the report begin to come in, back in England, the country was so astounded that they put up a huge billboard, and put a line down the middle of that billboard. And on one side, it's said, those known to be saved. And they begin to list their names 706 under that known to be saved. On the other side separated from that crowd. It said those known to be lost. As you know, it hadn't changed much today, ladies and gentlemen.

You're either saved or you're lost. You're either a saint or you're an aint. That's not good grammar. But you get what I'm saying. What's so important is for every one of us to examine our position, and make sure that we're more than just a church member. Make sure that we're more than just a good person.

Some people are too good to go to hell, but they're not good enough to go to heaven. And we need to be sure that we have an experience with Jesus Christ, that I'm a disciple that I'm a fully committed follower of Jesus Christ. That's the first step in life's discover. To know unequivalently that our heart is right with Jesus Christ, her position. But I looked on I looked at her passion it's found here in verse 36. This woman is full of good works and it mentioned and almsdeeds that been her giving. Some people when it comes to giving they stop at nothing. There it went.

She was full of good deeds, notice it says she was doing all kinds of good things to other people, serving others. She realized where it was that it was not about me, it's about others. And that's what Tabitha did, actually, Tabitha was the Hebrew name and Dorcas was her Greek name. And this lady went around she had a passion to serve others. A few years ago when I was out in Missouri, somebody took me to Lambert's restaurant. There's actually two that I know of in the state of Missouri, I went to the original first then checked out the one in Branson. If I was nearby, I'd check it out a whole lot more.

But it's nickname home of throwing rolls. If you've ever been there, they got some little guy that kind of walks around and they've got this thing full of hot rolls, I mean, piping hot. I'm talking about big rows.

I'm not talking about these little, I'm talking about big ones. And this guy will actually throw them across the room.

He'll throw them over booze and over people's head and he'll throw into somebody's table as a hey, you and they'll throw roll.

And they had a little flagpole here and if you don't put the flag up saying I surrender, they'll just keep throwing them at you. And sometimes they miss the table and go on nobody worries about its home of the thrown rolls. One of my favorite places to eat among 1000 others. And anyway, it's quite a place they will come around and they'll have a great big thing full of blackstrap molasses, big long handled spoon and would you like to have some molasses? Well, I don't have my plate yet. I haven't even ordered but you gotta roll, don't ya? Open up your roll and they'll smear the side of that thing with molasses. Nobody's coming to take your order, but somebody shows up at the great big thing full of okra, deep fried okra Would you like some I don't have a plate, you got a napkin, don't ya? And they'll put a big spoonful of okra on your napkin. And by the time you do finally get your meal you're so full. And then they'll show up with a great big kettle of soup beans and they'll come around with relish and other things to put on. It's a great place to eat. I kind of like the place. And they have this little guy when I was they had a little bitty guy, they didn't have Hulk Hogan or Ray LaSalle. It's all in my mind, you're a legend in your own mind. And anyhow this little guy stole these great big rolls and great big guys were catching the rolls. And some big gals to. They didn't get that way by accident. And it's kinda like it is around the church, isn't it? You got a little handful of people doing all the work and the bigger majority of people they're saying, oh what are the benefits for us? Throw us some of them rolls. You know most of us kind of look like?

Can I show you? Hello.

Feed me pastor, I'd have used a handkerchief, but I couldn't find one. But feed me pastor.

What's in it for us? What do you have to offer? You know what, if you're an adult, you need to feed yourself. I mean your responsibility is to eat, you know this isn't how God wants us to look. You know how God wants us to look?

I'd get down and kneel but I'd have to get up and it'd take a crane. Somebody asked me what's the hardest thing about your sermons I said getting on the platform. Next thing is getting an Amen out of the crowd. But Jesus got down on his knees put a towel over his arm and a basin of water and he washed other's feet. He came to serve others.

Jesus didn't come to be served.

But he came to serve. Well, Pastor, what about leadership?

Well, Leadership isn't about having your name in the lights.

Leadership isn't about having a title. Leadership isn't about serve me leadership is about how many others can you serve, that's when you become a leader.

When you're working with others to make their lives a whole lot better. I was studying this researching a little bit and I ran across a translation and said that Tabitha, extravagantly served others. In other words she gave her very best. Vince Lombardi, he said, the quality of a person's life is in direct proportion to their commitment to excellence, regardless of their chosen field of labor. So whatever we do, we ought to do heartily unto the Lord. I mean, we ought to give our best God deserves our best he deserves first class. I heard about this guy that went to a Harley Davidson store. And he walked in and said, I want to buy a big hog. You know what he meant? A little bitty guy and the owner said, we only sell Harley Davidson motorcycles to a man's man. How would you justify yourself owning a Harley Davidson? Well, he said, I was out in the woods and I had a chainsaw and I cut my hand off.

I held my wrist to keep from bleeding to death, and went up to the bar and got some fishing line and I sewed my hand back on. And the owner said my land, you can buy anything you want here. He said, All right. And I think too many times the things we do around the church is just kind of all right when it ought to be Alright. God deserves our excellence. God deserves first place. I'll tell you one thing when we do our best, it attracts others. It attracts people to the kingdom of God, we want to be at our very best. But I see not only her position and her passion, but her possibility. If you look at verse 37, through verses 41, you will read where this lady died. And they sent for Peter and Peter was three hours away and he came and she was resurrected, resurrected.

You believe in resurrection. I'd like to believe in it but sometimes in the middle of my preaching, I look at the crowd and I'm not sure I believe in it. One guy died and they called the undertaker and he carried out six men before he found the right one. I heard about an evangelist, he was preaching at a church and he said, you know, somebody in this crowd is going to die this week and guy sat on the front seat just grinning away. He said that bothered the evangelist he said, I said somebody in this congregation is gonna die this week. The guy just looked up and grinned. So he walked over in front of him and looked him in the face and he said, Sir, I said somebody in this congregation is gonna die.

The guy grinned and said it don't matter, I'm not a member of this congregation. Well, this woman died. But I want you to know there was a resurrection.

There was a resurrection. You know what the early church believed? They believe that God could do anything. They believed God for the impossible. With man many things are impossible but with God, all things the Bible says is possible. I see a caterpillar and I watch it inching its way along in the dust and in the grime and in the dirt and hoping that nobody will step on him and summer goes and his life is so short and come fall there's an instinct on the inside of that caterpillar, he realizes death will soon be here. And it does the most unique thing, it has an instinct to climb a tree and out onto a limb and there it begins to form a little cocoon a little coffin and it wraps itself in that coffin and it dies. And the winter comes and the ice forms and the snow and the blow and the cold but come Spring, suddenly that little cocoon that little coffin begins to vibrate.

If you're there, if you watch, suddenly the end breaks open.

Now scientists say they don't believe in the resurrection, but they really do. They only call it metamorphosis. They say there's going to be a change.

Well, the Bible already talked about a change. He said, I show you a mystery, we should all sleep but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye at the last trump. When we take a saint to God and we take him out to the cemetery, and we stand at the lip of the grave. And we say, we give the body back to the dust of the ground and the spirit back to the God that gave it and we gave their soul it belongs now to the ages. There, we put them beneath the sod in the sheer hope that the resurrection will take place, and Jesus will return the great bridegroom of the sky and when he comes, he'll call out their name and the ground will boil back and the headstones will step out of the way and they'll come forth gloriously resurrected. Out of that little coffin, that little cocoon comes a beautiful butterfly, it's not looking for a ground to crawl on, but a sky to fly in. Not looking for shadows, but looking for the sun. It's not looking for insects to eat on, but it's looking for honey and nectar.

I'm trying to tell you, there will be a day there'll be a resurrection, and the early church believed in it. And she had a bright, wonderful resurrection. Listen, if God can raise a lady from the dead, surely he can restore a marriage. If God can raise the lady from the dead, I believe he can bring that wayward son or daughter back home again. If God can raise a lady from the dead, I believe that God can turn our bad paths into a bright future.

CT Stud said God doesn't want nibblers of the possible but grabbers of the impossible.

William Carey said attempt great things for God and expect great things from God. Let me close.

We've talked about her position and so important. Being in a right standing with God talked about her passion, serving others talked about the possibility. Let's look at her purpose. It's there in verse 42.

Its her purpose, it's my purpose. And friend, it's your purpose, read it. And it was known throughout all Joppa. And many believed in the Lord.

What's our purpose ladies and gentlemen? We're just nobodies that ought to be telling the everybody's that somebody can save anybody. His name was Edward Kimball. Just a Sunday school teacher. They gave him a class. This is back before they had cell phones and telephones and the only way that he could make a call on anybody he had to go out and find them. Edward Kimball instead of saying the pastor oughta go make a call he made a call himself it was his class. He didn't want his class to die, then he'd better make some calls. He went out and called on a shoe salesman, a young guy that was in trouble in his life and his parents had sent him off to live with somebody else. To kind of get him out of the home. His name was DL Moody. Kimball walked by that shoe store where the boy worked and back this way in that way, pretty shy guy and hardly knew how to face DL Moody. When he went in he didn't see him and started to leave. And the owner said, Are you looking for somebody? Well, there's a boy named Moody. He said, he's back in the back stocking shoes. Just head right down through that hall there. And he went back in with tears in his eyes and said you haven't been coming to Sunday school. I'm missing you.

And what do you sobbed like that Moody was so broken. He said, I'll be there. He didn't want to go. But he didn't want that man crying either. And DL Moody got saved and called to preach. He was never ordained. He just got so many calls, he went to preaching. And somewhere in one of his meetings, a guy by the name of Jay Wilbur Chapman was converted and Chapman was called to preach and when he began to preach he met a ballplayer by the name of Billy Sunday. Billy Sunday got saved and of course he was a wild kind of a preacher all over the platform very demonstrative, and in his preaching a Jew came. A young Jew by the name of Mordecai Ham, was saved. Mordecai Ham only lasted about six months in the ministry, but that's more a little longer than some others.

And he was called to open up a crusade in North Carolina. He only stayed two nights and left out feeling like a failure. He'd given the altar call and only one kid came down the aisle and out. But the kid's name was Billy Graham. You say, What about all those great preachers?

No, no, no. Wasn't all those great preachers, it all started with a Sunday school teacher that understood his purpose was reaching people and be faithful to people and calling on people and loving people and being sure he didn't let somebody slip through the cracks. He understood his purpose. Do you realize that God has called all of us to be fishers of men? And when the church loses its vision to become fishers of men we wind up fussing and fighting and we miss the boat. We're called to reach people. Pastor, I'm here today and you talked about our position, having a right position with God. Being his follower, and I haven't really committed to following Christ like I should have. Fact of the matter, I don't even know if I'm right with God. But I'd like to be. I'll close by offering you this. Would you like for me to remember you in prayer? You know what I'd like to do before we leave the house this morning?

I'd like to have one closing prayer. I want our eyes closed for a moment our heads bowed. I wonder who would say pastor, I'd love for you to pray for me. I'd be honored to that'd be the highest honor I could receive.

I'm not really we're all to be but I want to get there would you remember me? Just slip a hand up. Nobody's going back to you. There's a hand there's another hand. Who else? There's another hand. Who else in the audience. There's another, who else? There's another. Anyone else? There's another another.

Stand with me if you would? Let me pray for you.

On this Memorial Day weekend, we have gathered. We've talked about those that served their country, talked about a little lady that served others tried to remind ourselves that we're not to live for just me but make a difference in the life of others.

She had a position she was right with you, a totally committed follower of Jesus Christ.

There's somebody here this morning that have a need in their heart and need to become that kind of a follower, need to be sure they're in right standing with you and I pray for them right now. Maybe they'll open their heart and say Jesus, from this point on, I give you my best. Not half time, part time I give you all time I give you my all. And if you'll help me, Lord Jesus, I'm going to serve you and live for you and honor you and be the person that you called me to be.

Thanks for being a part of the voice of the Nazarene.

Visit us every Sunday at 9am with BNC's Pastor Ray LaSalle.

For more information regarding BNC visit Bucyrus nazarene.org