Determined to Build 3
The God of The Impossible
October 1 2017
Introduction: Let’s begin with some good news. Every God idea at
the start appears impossible. What is the old saying; The Difficult We
Do Immediately. The Impossible Takes a Little Longer! This is good
news because the vision God is laying on your heart appears to be
impossible, and you have started, to think about checking into the
looney bin! In fact the one or two friends you have shared this God
dream with; have confirmed it. In fact they looked at you and said
something along the lines of, now that’s an interesting thought.
Which you rightly interpreted as them saying; that’ll never happen!
Maybe that’s why Nehemiah kept his mouth shut for four months.
After all, who would have taken him seriously? Think about it!
He was political refugee, a little more than a slave, who worked for a
king. He could not exactly slip out unnoticed. And besides the
Babylonians had torn down the walls of Jerusalem for a reason. A
defenseless city posed no threat. The Persians currently in control
were not going to stand by while somebody reestablished Israel as a
military presence in that region. Nehemiah was crazy to consider
such an idea.
March 26 1997 Jake Olsen was born in Huntington Beach California.
When Jake was 8 months old doctors diagnosed him with retina
blastoma-cancerous tumors in both eyes. Jake would be able to save
his right eye but lost his left eye. That left eye kept him connected to
the world- including his favorite sport football and his favorite team
the USC Trojans. But in September of 2009 at the age of 12 the
cancer returned and to save his life he would have to also lose the left
eye. His mother concerned for him asked how are you doing? His
reply was I am alright this will just be a new stage of my life. Surgery
was scheduled for November 2009 the story got around. And when
Pete Carroll the coach of the trojans heard about the story, he made
sure before the surgery Jake got to attend practices, ride the team
bus and attend games!
Last Wednesday, Burnette Chapel Church of Christ posted the
following on it’s Facebook page. To our congregation, these are the
facts as we know them:
A tragic shooting happened here on Sunday, September 24, which
caused the loss of beloved Melanie Smith and injured seven other
church members, including Linda Bush, Donald and Marlene Jenkins,
David and Peggy Spann, Catherine Dickerson, and Caleb Engle.
As far as we understand, all seven injured are in stable condition and
Catherine Dickerson and Caleb Engle have been released from the
hospital.
We have attempted to visit with the ones still under medical care, but
we have not yet been able to due to the nature of this event. Once able,
we will be visiting them and their families to offer support in any way
we can.
We hope that you will keep the victims and the families in your
prayers. As we learn more about their health status, we will let you
know.
The assailant, Emanuel Samson, is in custody, and the police is
conducting an investigation. It appears that Mr. Samson did attend
our church with three other students a few years ago but never
became a member. He has not attended services, that we know of, in
the last three years.
Just as all of you have, we have thought about why this horrible act
occurred, but we just do not know.
We are not going to speculate or guess on what the motive was, and
we encourage all of you not to either. We will share with you the
relevant, accurate facts as we learn them.
No doubt everyone of us can empathize with Nehemiah, Jake and the
believers of Burnette Chapel. We all know feeling of being
overwhelmed by a burden God has placed on our heart. Maybe you
are married to an unbeliever and are dreaming of a Christian
marriage. God may be leading you to a career change late in life. It
could be you are envisioning starting a new business. Whatever the
case, when you look at the landscape of our circumstances, it is
overwhelming. God-given dreams are always too big for us to handle.
We shouldn’t be suprised. Consider the source.
Dreamers, know that anything of God happens uphill! There are
always more questions than answers when God births a vision in our
hearts. There are always obstacles. There is always a lack of
resources. A man or woman with a vision usually feels alone! Even
isolated. Often there is little to go on other than gut-level,
unquenchable, insatiable desire. And hopefully a sense of destiny; a
feeling that this is what you were made for, an assurance that God
called you out into uncharted waters on a mission for God. If any of
this rings true for you, you may be on the brink of something divine.
Which is a great segue into this memory verse; let’s say it together.
The God of heaven will give us success. We his servants will start
rebuilding Nehemiah 2:20 NIV
- God of Preparation Nehemiah 2:1,2
In the month of Nisan in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes,
when wine was brought for him, I took the wine and gave it to the
king. I had not been sad in his presence before, 2 so the king asked
me, “Why does your face look so sad when you are not ill? This
can be nothing but sadness of heart.”
The name Nehemiah means “comforted of Yah” (International
Standard Bible Encyclopaedia) or God comforts. Nothing is known of
Nehemiah except what is written in the book bearing his name. But
because God is a God of preparation-I know this from the time
Nehemiah was a little boy, God had been orchestrating his life, so he
would find his way to Artaxerxes palace.
Have you ever wondered, if this is a God dream why am I doing a job
that is not remotely related to my calling? No doubt Nehemiah asked
that question every time images of Jerusalem passed through his
mind. “Lord, what am I doing in Persia? You called me to be a
builder, not a bartender?
On the surface it appeared that God had smashed Jake Olsen's
dreams to smithereens, of cheering and playing football. When
cancer took his other eye at 12. After his surgery to remove his Eye-
in an interview Jake stated, “I just want to be a normal kid, do what I
did and maybe more.” That mean to continue to snap for his flag
football team without the ability to see. Fall of 2013 as a Junior in
High School he tried out for the high school football team as a long
snapper! His High School coaches were in agreement there was no
way he is going to learn how to long snap a ball. Even Jake in an
interview said truthfully I sucked. He was accepted on the team, but
on the left bench. His coach said he never gave up, kept practicing all
these drills and finally became the best long snapper in his high
school. Jake became the Long snapper his Junior and Senior
seasons.
On the Surface, it appeared God was moving Nehemiah and Jake in
direction that would make it impossible for them to realize their
dreams. But just the opposite was true. God landed Nehemiah a job
that gave him an inside track to the King. But he had more than a job.
As cupbearer, Nehemiah had a special relationship to the king. Every
day the king entrusted his life to the man who served his wine. It was
cupbearer’s responsibility to protect the king from being poisoned by
his inner circle. Artaxerxes’ own father had been murdered by a
trusted servant. He knew all too well the possibility of betrayal.
Betrayal can be both subtle and in your face. Robert Caleb Engle was
born in 1995 in La Vergne, Tennessee South and East of Nashville.
There is nothing about Caleb-(he goes by his middle name)-that would
separate him from the crowd. No special distinctions, an average
worker for a car dealership, who loves guns, family, fun and faith!
When his grandma Theta talks about him; she does not give his GPA
or where he went to college, she states, “He’s just someone who cares
about a lot of people. He has all their feelings at heart…” His best
friend describes him this way, “ He’s just a great guy," Just one of the
kindest human beings you’ll ever meet.” A gentle giant. To his church
family he was the church usher who welcomed you when you came in
the door.
September 24th was like every other Sunday in his life. Sunday is for
Church from infancy to his twenties he has been part of Burnette
chapel. He drove his blue Xterra to church listening to Ozzy and
Linken park. Leaving the car he left his firearm on the truck, not
proper to take a firearm into church. The church that Sunday was
pretty much like every Sunday, except when almost everyone left he
heard a loud noise in the parking lot!
The God of preparation has spent 22 years molding Caleb for what
would happen next. Like a master strategist , God had been working
behind the scenes, putting all the players in position. And now the
curtain was about to go up, signaling the beginning of a divinely
scripted, perfectly was play.
2. The God of Faithfulness Nehemiah 9:16-21
Turn with me to Nehemiah 9:16-21. Nehemiah chapter 9 is the
longest prayer in all the Bible. Perhaps you do not like long-winded
prayers and are nervous about this one.
There is a great story about D. L. Moody who once asked a certain
brother to pray at a service in the Chicago Church. The man began to
pray and was still droning on after ten minutes had gone by. Finally,
Mr. Moody stood up and said, "While our dear brother is finishing his
prayer, let's turn to number 342 and sing it together!" This prayer in
the book of Nehemiah is not that long, but it is a great model prayer
which will teach us much for our own praying. One thing we can
learn from Nehemiah 9 is that God is faithful! Verse 16; “But they,
our ancestors, became arrogant and stiff-necked, and they did not
obey your commands. 17 They refused to listen and failed to
remember the miracles you performed among them. They became
stiff-necked and in their rebellion appointed a leader in order to
return to their slavery. But you are a forgiving God, gracious and
compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love. Therefore
you did not desert them, 18 even when they cast for themselves
an image of a calf and said, ‘This is your god, who brought you up
out of Egypt,’ or when they committed awful blasphemies.
19 “Because of your great compassion you did not abandon them
in the wilderness. By day the pillar of cloud did not fail to guide
them on their path, nor the pillar of fire by night to shine on the
way they were to take. 20 You gave your good Spirit to instruct
them. You did not withhold your manna from their mouths, and
you gave them water for their thirst. 21 For forty years you
sustained them in the wilderness; they lacked nothing, their
clothes did not wear out nor did their feet become swollen
Where or whom do we get the idea that God is a cruel, stern God,
thundering judgments upon people, demanding that they toe the
mark or else be punished severely and without mercy? God is always
described in the Old Testament as a God of loving care. He is
compassionate and patient. He waits while people go through their
trials, hoping they will learn lessons along the way, that they might
return to him so that he can bless them.
From this passage know; “God is using your circumstances to position
and prepare His vision for your life! And of course that’s easy for me
to say; I’ve read Nehemiah’s story-not lived it. He didn’t know his
years of servitude to the king had divine significance! For years
Nehiamiah’s prayers seemed to have bounced off the cieling! He saw
no improvement nor hope of improvement. Every day was boringly
the same. His perceived leadership and administration skills lay
dormant year after year! The mountain was still there! After all, he
was merely a cupbearer to the king! But God had Nehemiah, right
where he wanted him. He was perfectly positioned! Because God is
always faithful!
Jake Olsen graduated from High School with honors in 2015 and
pursued his dream to attend USC! At USC he received a scholarship
for physically challenged athletes. Shortly thereafter, he received a
call form USC head coach Steve Sarkisian and offered a try out as a
long snapper for the football team. The special teams coach told him I
am not sure how we are going to do this. Jakes reply don’t worry
coach - I GOT THIS! After two years he had not made it on the field
during a game.
Think how angry and bitter Jake could have been. Born with cancer
that took his sight! Spending his whole life overcoming obstacle after
obstacle. But no God’s faithfulness provided a super hero attitude in
Jake Olsen!
Caleb heard a loud noise in the parking lot. He went to the door and
he encountered the shooter, he ran up to -not away from the gunman
to try to stop him. What do you do against a gun? Caleb bear hugged
the shooter. police said. “There was a significant struggle
between the two,” said the police spokesman. During the struggle
Samson shot himself. Samson pistol-whipped Engle during the
struggle. Engle was bleeding from his head, but he didn’t let the
injury stop him. How did he not lose consciousness? God is faithful!
Engle, who has a legal permit to carry his gun, ran outside to his car
to get his gun. When he went back into the church, Engle held the
shooter at gunpoint, until the police arrived. He did not shoot
Samson in anger-did not physically assault him-he held him until the
police arrived! Isn’t God even in tragedy - loving and faithful? Eight
people shot and only one died-God is a god of mercy! Oh Caleb he went
to hospital and his head wounds were treated and he was back to
work Monday morning! God is always faithful!
The term compassion means favor or mercy. Nehemiah wanted and
prayed for the king to feel compassion toward the desolation of
Jerusalem. That was an impossibility only God’s faithfulness could
provide! Because, the king was not known to be compassionate. In
fact when Nehemiah finally got his audience with the king, Nehemiah
states in Chapter 2 verse 2; NLT translates Nehemiah state as being
afraid-the NKJV more to the point states “He was dreadfully afraid!
Unless God intervened, the king would not be compassionate! A
gunman who has been shot-has his assailant on the ground-unless
God intervenes there will be no compassionate!
3. The God of the People Nehemiah 6:15 & 7:4
Chapter six, we see Nehemiah’s gifted leadership, the people efforts
rebuilt the walls. Now all that remained to do was the restoration of
the gates and the strengthening of the community within the walls. ”\
Verse 14 So the wall was completed on the twenty-fifth of Elul, in
fifty-two days. But just rebuilding the walls did not restore
Jerusalem. Chapter 7 verse four states; Now the city was large and
spacious, but there were few people in it, and the houses had not
yet been rebuilt. Notice the walls were done-so Nehemiah return to
Persia? No, because God is the maker of all people and loves them!
The people are still broken!
When God wants to accomplish a work, He always prepares His
workers and puts them in the right places at the right time. The God
of impossible always uses ordinary everyday people -to do
extraordinary or if you will the impossible!
Play Video of Jake
So the God of the impossible, what did he lead ordinary Caleb to do.
Here is Caleb’s only statement; “I’ve been going to this church my
whole life, since I was a small child. I would have never, ever thought
something like this would have happened.
I ask everyone to pray for the victims, family members of the victims,
our church community. Please pray for healing. Also, please pray for
the shooter, the shooter’s family and friends. They are hurting as
well.
I pray that through all of this that people will come to know Christ
and I ask our nation to reflect on Romans 8:31, ‘If God is for us, who
can be against us?’”
One of the exciting things about being a follower of Jesus is watching
God unveil his plan for our lives. Most often those plans are only seen
in our review mirror. While God is doing the impossible in our
ordinary life, we are in the tunnel of Chaos, and we can’t see it!
Conclusion: My comments about the rear view is this; If you
measure your success by whether or not your vision has
materialized, you are candidate for discouragement. After all, there
are days when it seems we are moving at light speed in the wrong
direction. It is possible to go for weeks, months, even year, with no
sign of progress. Confusing success with the rewards of success is
one of the primary reasons people abandon God given dreams!
Success is remains faithful to the process God has laid out for you.
Think about it. When was Nehemiah successful? Was Jake Olsen only
a success when he long snapped in a college game? When was Caleb a
hero? I know when Nehemiah felt like a success. . . the day they laid
the last brick on the wall. That was on of the most exhilarating days
of his life. For all involved God doing the impossible is a moment of
Joy and accomplishment! But Nehemiah was successful long before
that last brick!
Folks, success is remaining faithful to the process God has laid out for
you. Certainly there are significant and enjoyable mile markers along
the way. But success is not a historical monument! Success is not
the raise, promotions, recognition, christian home or wonderful, well
behaved children! Those are simply mile markers along the way.
Success is staying faithful to the process that contributed to those
things becoming a reality! Unfortunately, we often don’t consider
ourselves successful until we experience the rewards. unfortunately,
in the sermon on the Mount; Jesus is clear God’s rewards will only be
experienced on that day we hear him say well done Good and faithful
servant!
If you are now willing to surrender to the God of the impossible, come
up front as we stand to sing! Need prayer pray with the person next
to you!
“God’s work has never been easy, and in these last days it is getting
more and more difficult to serve. The Enemy is hurling his
ammunition at us as never before and is setting his subtle traps
where we least expect them.
But the same great God who enabled Nehemiah to finish building the
walls of Jerusalem will enable us to finish our course with joy and
accomplish the work He has called us to do. There is no reason to quit
or even to despair!”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BRttFSTDtJQ
