Philippians 2:5-8 NASB

"Have this attitude"

KJV
"Let this mind"

This is a choice

Jesus existed in the form of God

He didn’t cling to His Deity but embraced His humanity

In His humanity He became as a bond-servant

Remember, a bond-servant was one who chose to serve, even though they were free to choose not to

Being made in the likeness of men

He humbled Himself when He became obedient

Jesus humility was one of suffering

He served even when it was hard and humiliating

Today’s Christian needs to remember that humility is not weakness

Jesus humbled Himself as a man to be obedient to God

To show us exactly how we should serve God

Today we can serve in many ways even in our own church

Jesus humbled Himself and was obedient even to the point of death on the cross

He obediently suffered for the whole world to see

Are you willing to obediently serve God today that others may see Jesus?

We live in a stormy time

I’ve heard it said that each of us is; either in a storm, coming out of a storm, or about to go into a storm every day.

Jesus rebukes the storm

Let US cross over

Took Him how He was

A storm arose

He was asleep

He was awakened

He rebuked the storm

How is it that you have no faith

The disciples were fearful

Who can this be?

Jesus was fully man and fully God and the disciples just saw both

Are you locked in the storms of life?

Do you need a savior?

Trust Jesus! He is the only One that can calm the storms!

• I. The Shepherd's Voice -- Follow Me
  • • A. The Sheep follow Him John 10:27
    • B. Follow Him and not walk in darkness John 8:12
      • • 1. To follow Jesus expresses a union of the two, you and Christ 2. To follow Jesus shows that you are united or "hooked together" with Him 3. To follow Jesus is to go the same way as He goes
    • C. Follow Him and be a fisher of men Matt. 4:19
    • D. Follow Jesus and take up your Cross
      • • 1. Die to the importance of self 2. Put the Lord first in your life every moment of every day 3. Make Christ the number #1 priority in your living; serving; and giving
• II. The Master's Voice
  • • A. Occupy till I Come Luke 19 :13
      • • 1. here in Luke 19:13, it means "trade ye" or "gain your living" until He returns.
        • 2. Work, or do our daily tasks and jobs until He comes; work for the Lord till He comes again.
    • B. Jesus IS coming again in Glory
      • • 1. We don't know when -- He is on HIS timetable
        • 2. Let's be ready for His coming; looking; working; serving; not giving up and not giving in.
• III. The Savior's Voice
  • • A. Come unto Me Matthew 11:28 This basically means to "come here and follow" it is a command of the Lord Jesus Christ.
    • B. We are to give our burdens to the Lord; Cast your care upon Him
    • C. To come to Jesus and follow Him brings rest
      • • 1. rest here means "refreshment"
        • 2. the word "rest" as used here is NOT a rest from work but a REST IN WORK. This refers to the harmonious working of will; heart; imagination; conscience;
        • 3. As we work (labor) for the Lord, He will refresh us as we come and follow Him.
• IV. The Teachers Voice
  • • A. Learn of Me Matt. 11:29 let us be meek and lowly (humble) so that we can be teachable
    • B. Take His yoke upon you; this tells us that we should team up with Christ and submit to His authority.
    • C. We are to follow Christ's example I Peter 2:21-22
• V. The Voice of the Bridegroom
  • • A. The bridegroom has the Bride John 3:28-30
      • • 1. the saved belong to the Lord
        • 2. we were bought with a price, the precious blood of Jesus Christ on the Cross of Calvary.
    • B. He (the Bridegroom-Jesus) must increase in our lives vs 29-30
      • • 1. We need more of Christ and less of self in our lives
        • 2. We need more of what He wants for us and less of what we want for us
        • 3. When we give Jesus His rightful place in our lives, He blesses us more and more.
• VI. The Voice of the Friend
  • • A. I will sup with him Revelation 3:20 The word "sup" here means spiritual communion between Christ and you.
    • B. The True Friend knocks and offers help; encouragement and fellowship
    • C. Notice the context here:
      • • 1. We have a local Church that has shut Christ out. They may have their traditions; pageantry; ceremonies; etc. but not Christ nor His power. Therefore, they are a powerless congregation just going through the motions of "religion."
        • 2. Jesus is knocking at the door of a local church and, as a "Friend", offers to come in "if" any man (just one person) will hear the Lord and open the door to the Lord.
        • 3. This shows the love; mercy; and grace of the Lord as well as His patience toward mankind.
• VII. The Voice of the Physician
  • • A. Christ makes one whole John 5:5-6
      • • 1. we are complete in Him Colossians 2:10
        • 2. In Christ, we are complete in the "will of God" Colossians 4:12
    • B. He heals the brokenhearted Luke 4:18
      • • 1. sometimes we think of a physical healing; but there is the "spiritual healing" or the "mending" that is needed in a person's life after a heart - breaking experience.
        • 2. Let Christ heal you spiritually and do not dwell on the problems; give them to Christ by casting ALL of your care upon Him. I Peter 5:7
        • 3. Remember wounds take time to heal and Jesus, the Great Physician, heals broken hearts.

Numbers 14:1-3 NASB

How did they get here?

The possibility of something so much better just seemed to hard.

No one said following God was going to be easy!

God forgives, but blessings are lost

God’s people were continually complaining against the very one that gave them freedom

They could have had so much

Where are we today?

Do you fully trust God?