"The
Everlasting Arms" By Chris Ulrich December 10th,
2018 Amen. You may be
seated. Quite a lot this morning, just from
testimonies, and songs, very heartfelt sharing times. Pat Adams, don't
leave. I
don't know if you heard, Ed said a Prayer—but, Pat and Bill, you want
to get
over here? This is Pat's last service; he's actually going in the
service. All
you military guys and ladies out there, he's going to be in the boot
camp
tomorrow morning—tomorrow afternoon. So, this is his last service with
us for
the next couple of months. We couldn't be more prouder of you. I know
your
father, Bill, is that much more proud, so we… Amen; thanks, thanks,
looking
forward to it. and God bless you both, definitely, definitely. I don't know if you heard, there's another
praise report
yesterday, but our church website is up. And, Bill, we'd like to thank
you. I
know you put in a lot of effort, yourself, Jonathan Santiago, I think,
Rich
Snow, and some of the others. It's been a little while, but, there's a
lot of
work, you know, like Malcolm had shared earlier, about, this isn't
something
that—these guys aren't paid to do this. This is something they take
their own
time, they put forth the effort, they make it happen, and it's a great
website.
It’s something that I know I rely on. We've got an Elders corner,
there's
things that Pastor Paine and some of the elders share. Pete puts the
sermon notes
on there. There's pictures over the different events we've had. Our
tithing is
on there too, so it's a big thing. So, we just want to thank God for
that. And,
Parrish, like you had said about our sister Lorraine, just being here,
I just
want to thank God for you, Lorraine. I just want to welcome you back,
personally, you and Leygoze. It's definitely great to see you both back
today. So, there's an expression, and I know,
certainly, I'm going to get
into some things about it. I appreciate hearing the Christmas songs,
and, but I
know there's an expression a lot of us have heard at some point in our
life,
and it's a short one, and it's, it's almost like an epitaph. It’s very
brief,
and it kind of sums everything up, and, the expression is, ‘From the
cradle to
the grave.’ There's kind of a sadness to it, because we think, well,
there's an
end point to it. There's an in point to that. I don't think there's a
living
person that's probably older than five that hasn't thought about the
end of
life, and the ultimate finish line. And, I'm not, I'm not going to go
around
and go interview some kindergarteners, or first graders, or the kids
who are in
our children's church, and ask them what they think about it. It's a
sensitive
topic, it's something that whether we heard about it at some point,
whether the
first time we heard about it in our life, whether we heard about it as
far as
an older relative had passed on, or we read about it in the newspaper.
I
remember looking at it, and just seeing obituaries, and just wondering,
as a
little kid, what that actually meant. Growing up, I remember seeing
different
things on the news about the war that was going on at the time. And,
again, I
hope that doesn't put a damper on the Christmas spirit, but I promise
you that
it's going to get better. I promise you that it's going to get better.
It’s
kind of interesting, because I think a lot of us remember an expression
that we
heard, and maybe some of you are still hearing it. The expression is,
“You have
your whole life ahead of you.” How many remembers hearing that growing
up, or
at some point in time? And, I think it's good to tell people that, and,
and look
forward to, and have hope for what they're going to experience in life.
Maybe
you're even still hearing it, but I have to say that, personally, there
isn't
anybody that's come up to me lately and said, “You've got your whole
life in front
of you.” I don't take that as an insult, I just realized, well, that’s
just the
passage of time, these are the kind of things that, as we get older,
this is
what we deal with. But, how many thinks it's a little bit weird, or a
little
bit strange, sometimes, when you read a book about something that took
place
long ago, or you see a movie, that was something that happened before
you were
born, or you read a newspaper, or something that happened, it’s
something that
took place before you were born, maybe even long before we were born.
It could
have been a World War I, or it could have been the Great Depression, or
the
sinking of the Titanic, or some other historical event that happened
before we
were alive. I'm going to ask Jennifer Fuentes to come up,
she's going to read
for us from the Book of Second Corinthians, six, verses one through
ten. But, a
lot of times we only have those periodicals where we can go, or we can
go
online, or we can have different elders in our family, or people that
we know
from church that tell us about these events, tell us what it was like
back
then. And, we all acknowledge that life did exist before we were born.
I know
it's hard to believe, but, unless the Rapture of the church happens in
our lifetime,
it's going to go on without us at some point. And, before Jennifer reads, I'm going to ask if
you would bow your
heads in a word of prayer for the sermon this morning. Lord, we just
come to
you this morning and we just thank you for the victories that you've
given us
this morning. And, we thank you for getting us through another year,
Lord, God.
We thank you, God, for the promises that you've given us, God. We thank
you,
God, for those that have things to look forward to in their life, and
that
includes all of us, Lord, God. We thank you God for the healings that
have
taken place, Lord, God. We thank you for the music, and the expressions
of love
that were shared, this morning, from this pulpit, Lord, God, and for
those that
were out here in the congregation, Lord, God. I ask you, God, to bless
this
time, Lord, God, the time that we call the sermon, God, and that we’d
all gain
something from it, Lord, God. That you would pour out your spirit,
Lord, God,
and that you would give us something that we need, whatever it is,
Lord, God, to
just get us through another day, another week, another month, another
year,
whatever time frame it is, Lord God. We just thank you for your love,
and we
just want to ask these things, in Your name, Lord, Jesus. Amen. Go
ahead, Jennifer; from the Book of Second Corinthians, chapter six,
verses one
through ten: 2
Corinthians 6:1-10
We then,
as workers together with him, beseech you also that ye receive not the
grace of
God in vain.(For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in
the day
of salvation have I succoured thee: behold, now is the accepted time;
behold,
now is the day of salvation.) Giving no offence in any thing, that the
ministry
be not blamed: but in all things approving ourselves as the ministers
of God,
in much patience, in afflictions, in necessities, in distresses, in
stripes, in
imprisonments, in tumults, in labours, in watchings, in fastings; by
pureness,
by knowledge, by longsuffering, by kindness, by the Holy Ghost, by love
unfeigned, by the word of truth, by the power of God, by the armour of
righteousness on the right hand and on the left, by honour and
dishonour, by
evil report and good report: as deceivers, and yet true; as unknown,
and yet
well known; as dying, and, behold, we live; as chastened, and not
killed; as
sorrowful, yet alway rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as
having
nothing, and yet possessing all things. Thanks, Jennifer, don't leave yet. We've got
something, that we
want to make a quick announcement. Nubia, when you were up here,
sharing about
the prayer time the other night, I thought you were going to mention
it, which
is, if you would have, that’s fine, but Jennifer had mentioned to me
that prior
to service this morning that, she was accepted at a college. And, I
will share
with you in a minute, what it means to me, but, go ahead, if you can,
and tell
everybody what school you are going to: Jennifer:
I'm going to Amherst College in
Massachusetts. That's my home state. My brother went to UMass
which is about five
miles away from where she's going to. It's a great college, And, thank
you very
much for reading. Go ahead and be seated, but, that when she had
mentioned to
me, in the last couple of months about applying to some different
colleges, and
visiting some different colleges, and even had mentioned it in another
testimony in the last couple of months, I thought, well that's one
college
that’s near and dear to my heart—I didn't go there; I couldn't have
gotten in,
I'll just say it like that. The standards are pretty high up there,
I'll just
say it like that. But ,I'm proud of you. I know your mom and dad are
very proud
of you too, and, your little brothers, if they knew what it meant,
since
they're only three and two, they'll be very proud of you when they get
older
too, so… thanks for reading. Part 1:
As Dying, Behold We Live And, I know it's sort of a paradox in a way,
because we think of
something that's dying, we figure the next step is death, not life.
But, that's
not how it is when we know God. Or, we think about being sorrowful, or
poor, or
having nothing, and the next step that we think about is depression, or
bankruptcy, or homelessness. And, Ashley, your younger sister had
shared about
that, about that depression that seems to plague people, and affect
people. But,
that's not how it is when we know God. We see these things, we face
these
crises and we think it's doomsday, or we think it's something to dread,
or we think
it's something to fear, but, even what you shared, Lorraine, about
overcoming
that, and the healing that God's given you, that's a victory for you,
for
Leygoze, it's a victory for all of us. We definitely rejoice in that. One scripture Parrish had mentioned, last week,
in his message from
Second Timothy, it simply says, if we suffer with him we'll also reign
with him
(2 Timothy 2:12). And, there are going to be some hardships in life.
And, there
are going to be some enduring of things that we're going to have to go
through.
And, as much as we'd all like to avoid it, there is going to be
sadness, and tragedy,
but I like what his follow-up statements were, that God gives us all
rewards
along the path of life, because the Christian life isn't all hardship,
it's not
all challenges, it's not all difficulty. And, that's a healthy balance
that
we're going to experience. There's a lot of good things to look forward
to, and
there's a lot of blessings from God that are just Unlimited. God is
able to do
exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think (Ephesians 3:20).
And, I
believe that. And, I know a lot of us out here—I know all of us out
here
believe that, too. It's not something that we just take lightly, or not
something that we’re just up here blabbing away, when we read or when
we share
with people. The Bible says that death and life are in the power of the
tongue
(Proverbs 18:21). And, there are things that can be said and things
that can be
shared that can be life-changing. There are things that could be done
that are
life-changing for people, things that could be encouraging to people,
things
that could be uplifting to people. And, normally I like to introduce the title of
the sermon a little
bit later on in the message, but today I'm going to give it a little
bit early.
The title is “The Everlasting Arms.” Most of us have heard that song,
“Leaning
on the Everlasting Arms.” I know you'll be disappointed that I won't be
singing
this song, today. Most of all, I'm the most disappointed one. No, I
have to say
that the heart of these lyrics of this hymn come from the Book of
Isaiah,
chapter nine, verse six, which is our scripture theme of the month. You
don't
have to turn to it, but I'm going to read it really quickly: Isaiah
9:6
For unto us a child is born, unto us
a son is given: and the government shall
be upon his shoulder: and his name shall
be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, And, Kirk, like you had mentioned about your
Pandora box, or
whatever gadget it is that you said you had to listen to Christmas
songs,
right? Okay, okay. I like to go to YouTube, and I like to look up
different
songs—and, you know what? I will occasionally do it, as far as
Christmas or
other times of the year, but, really, I probably do it a lot more this
time of
year. There's one that a friend of mine had told me about years ago,
and, I really
can't say that I remember it from back in the time that it happened,
but, if
you look it up, there was one, from probably in the late 70s, that
shows Bing
Crosby and David Bowie. Bing Crosby was pretty close to the end of his
life.
And, they’re really from two very different generations of music. How
many here
has heard Bing Crosby? David Bowie? Okay. And, I know that we're not
trying to—this
is something where they did a Christmas song together, it was sort of a
Duo,
but, I like the beginning part of it, where Bing is in this house, and
David
Bowie comes and knocks on the door, and acts like he doesn't recognize
him.
And, he says to Bing Crosby, “Well, you must be the new butler.” And,
Bing, at
that point in his life was probably 70, maybe 75, and, he said, “It's
been a
long time since I’ve been the new anything.” But, he says it in a real
humorous
way, and not in an insulted way, and, then they just get to talking.
And, then
they just do a song, they do a duet of the Little Drummer Boy. And,
I’ve
thought about that a lot of times, as you look at these different
clips, or you
look at old videos, or, like I said, you look at an old movie, or you
read
something from a period of time. Bing Crosby died not very long after
that, and
David Bowie died the year after. And, we're talking about the
Everlasting God;
we're talking about how God has been with us since the very beginning.
And, we're
talking about from the Christian standpoint of dying and behold we
live, as
seemingly to have nothing and yet possessing all things. And, we go
through
this life, and maybe we don't have a lot of possessions, and maybe we
don't
have as great a job as we'd like, or we don't have the accolades, or
whatever
else that would give us prestige, it doesn't matter. God is not there
to be
prestigious or glamorous or anything like that, but he’s there to save
our
souls.
I'm going to read from the book of Isaiah,
chapter seven, verse fourteen.
This goes hand-in-hand, to me, with Isaiah, chapter nine, verse six.
You don't
have to turn, but, this is from Isaiah chapter seven verse fourteen. It
says: Isaiah 7:14
Therefore the
Lord himself shall give you a
sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call
his name
Immanuel. These verses do go hand-in-hand, because we're
talking about having
an understanding of the Everlasting God, and realizing that this is a
flat-out
miracle, that something like this it never happened before, and it's
never
happened since. I'd like to ask Brother Ed Kretzer, he’s going
to come up and read
for us from the Book of Revelation, twenty-two, verse thirteen. And, we
see
something like that, and it's not something that we esteem lightly. I
remember thinking
about how, if you look at the history of the time that this was
written, the
actual birth of Christ wasn't for another 700 years, and I'm sure there
were
plenty of naysayers that looked at Isaiah and thought, “Well, when’s it
going
to happen, when's it going to happen? Well, when's it going to happen?
Well, when's
it going to happen?” Without any patience, or thinking it was supposed
to
happen the very next day, or the very next week, without realizing this
is
going to be many, many generations off. But it's going to happen in
God's
timing. Brother Ed, I'd like to ask if you could read Revelation,
twenty-two,
verses thirteen through nineteen, please. Revelation
22:13-19 I
am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last.
Blessed
are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree
of
life, and may enter in through the gates into the city. For without are
dogs,
and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and
whosoever
loveth and maketh a lie. I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto
you these
things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, and
the
bright and morning star. And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And
let him
that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever
will,
let him take the water of life freely. For I testify unto every man
that
heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add
unto these
things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this
book: and
if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy,
God
shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy
city, and
from the things which are written in this book. Thanks Ed. So, for those of us that know this
passage, it's very
near to the end of the Bible, and there's just a couple other verses
afterwards,
but… I've seen some statistics that showed an
estimate for approximately
how many people have ever existed on planet Earth. The population,
right now,
according to polls, is about seven billion people. Anybody want to
guess as to
how many people have ever existed on planet Earth? Any estimates, any
guesses?
Since there are none… You can shout it out if it’s something that comes
to
mind, that’s fine. 75 billion? That's right in the wheelhouse. I've
looked at
some different sites, and the estimates are about 67 to 108 billion
people.
And, I would figure, I mean, you just look at the generations of time,
from the
beginning of Creation, from Adam and Eve, to the time of Noah, to the
time
after the flood, and the repopulating of the Earth, that's about right,
I mean,
I would say. It's not something that I'm
going to get argumentative about, or disputing. In a way, it's
mind-boggling. But,
it also proves how Limitless God is. It proves that God is an
everlasting God,
and, His power stretches not only across the universe, but across the
generations of time. Part 2:
Alpha and Omega the
Beginning and the End But you know I thought a lot about this, as I
was looking at this,
and doing a little research, and I thought, you know what matters—what
might
matter to you, or what might matter to me, might not be how many people
have ever
lived on planet Earth, or if there's life on other planets, or if the
universe
is expanding; what might matter is wondering if we have enough money to
pay the
next bill. What might matter is if we have a loved one, or ourselves,
are going
through chemotherapy treatment, or some kind of other difficult
procedure, or
hospitalization. What might matter is if we have a family member or
friend
that's got an addiction, or fighting a battle, and we don't know where
to turn
to exactly, or for them—for their sake, for the challenges that they're
going
through. We all have concerns and worries, and, what might matter to me
might
not matter to you, but vice versa. But I can tell you that God cares
about what
matters to us. And, the world's problems don't mean anything to me, if
I'm
facing some kind of crisis. After a while, it's like, I don't care if
climate
change is real or not, to be honest with you. You get to a certain
point where
if you go through enough challenges and difficulties, and you've got
people on
the outside, whatever, the media, or whatever it is, that their
concerns aren't
the same as ours. And, you've got, “Oh, well, what happens to this
political
organization?” or “Whatever happens in this part of the world?” And,
I'm not
saying that to be uncaring, I'm just saying that, sometimes, what we're
dealing
with personally, it overrides that. Because, we have to deal with that
situation, here and now, and it has gotten to a point where it's crisis
mode.
And, it is getting to a point where, this has to be taken care of. What
if I'm
going through a foreclosure, what if I'm going through a layoff, or
whatever it
is we're dealing with? I'm going to ask if you could turn with me to
the Book of First
Peter, five, six through seven: 1
Peter 5:6-7
Humble yourselves therefore under the
mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time: casting all your
care
upon him; for he careth for you. The fact is that none of this is going to matter
much, if the
Everlasting God didn't care for us. Then you're talking about, it's
just a
free-for-all, and whoever can get away with whatever they can get away
with.
Or, what they call the Darwin position, that only the strong survive,
because
that's the way it is in the animal kingdom. That's not the way it is;
we have a
soul. And, don't get me wrong, I know that there's an
awesomeness—if that's
even a word—about God's creation. So, if we take away that thinking,
what if we
thought, “God doesn't care,” and we're still looking at what we have in
front
of us, which is the creation of God and all of our surroundings. It is
a pretty
stunning creation, looking at it from that standpoint, and I believe
even the
most stalwart atheist would admit that, would agree, and say, it's
mind-boggling. You look at some of the things, whether it's the depths
of the
ocean, whether it's the Grand Canyon, or whether it's some of the
mountain
ranges, throughout the world, the Andes, or the Swiss Alps, I mean, you
just—if
you've never even been there, just looking at some of the pictures,
but, I've
been to some places, and it's just enough to, to make me thank God, to
make me
sit in awesome Wonder. But, knowing that God does love us, and knowing
that God
does care, is what we call a game-changer. That makes a big difference.
That makes
it all the more, wanting to serve God, and make sure we're on the right
track. I thought about calling part one of the message
today, “We Are
Going to Die.” and then part 2, “We Are Going To Live.” But then I
thought,
part one might scare everyone off, that they won't stick around to hear
part 2.
So, then, I thought, well, I have to do some shuffling around a little
bit
here. It might sound a little strange, especially being in the month of
December, because we focus on the birth of Jesus Christ, not
necessarily about
our mortality, but we're talking about the Everlasting Arms of God and
our hope
today is built on a promise of eternal life, and holding fast to that
promise.
And, that's what I mean, that we're going to die, and then we're going
to live.
Because that's that promise, and as it gets closer, and I know, like I
said,
I'm not hearing anybody say to me, “You've got your whole life in front
of you.”
It doesn't bother me. And, I know I refer back to that, it's just a
video, that
duet, Bing Crosby, a much older guy than David Bowie, at the time, sort
of
said, kiddingly, “I haven't been called the new anything in a long
time.” To
me, I kind of look at that, like, you know, I've known a lot of older
folks
that embraced it, that they're okay. I mean, it's not like we have a
choice in
the matter, but I appreciate that. And, I believe that's God having His
hand in
people's lives, that we understand that this is what we go through,
that this
is how the deck is stacked. But, it's not stacked against us. But, I asked Sonya, last week, I wanted to
share, a little bit,
about some of the people that we know that are near and dear to us,
some of us,
here in the congregation, that have passed on in the past year. And, I
know,
Ashley, your mom, Connie Rivera, passed on about six months ago and
it's
something, we celebrate their life. Sonia, I know you and Abby's dad,
Gonzalo
Ramos passed on, was it March, I think? April? September, I'm sorry.
And, our
brother Mike Hooks. Near and dear to our heart. Some of us knew, after
he came,
and I know, Henry and Lena, I know you knew him for many years, and,
Corinne,
you knew him for many years. We just became real good friends, me, and
Mike,
and Leygoze would go off to breakfast a lot, and, just enjoyable, Mike
would
have questions about different things in the sermons, or different
things that
we experienced. You know, there was a song years ago, and, it
just talked about
reflecting on people that we've known, and there was this one line in
it, and, I
always appreciated that line it said, “I know I'll often stop and think
about
them.” And, I think there is a time for
that. It's not necessarily just at the end of the year, but it's
something where—it’s
something that God brings people back into our remembrance, and we
stop, and we
think about them. So, are we drawing closer to God as we go through
life? Is
our path getting brighter? Is our anointing getting stronger? Is our
resolve to
hear those words, “Well done, thou good and faithful servant,” is that
getting
stronger? And, I'm not talking about making big bold
declarations, or
talking big. I mean, we've heard it over the years, people that say,
“Oh I'm
going to dedicate my life, I'm going to make it. I'm going to be there.
I'm
going to do this, I'm going to make this change,” and then, ‘Poof!’
they're
gone. They disappear. You don't see them—and I believe in
reconciliation, I
believe that, for anybody that wants to get reconciled, anybody that
wants to
make their life anew. But, whatever the reason for anyone's departure,
whether
it's getting weary in well-doing, or, loving the world more than loving
the Gospel,
or getting caught up with the cares and the things of this
life—whatever the
reason is, are we counting the cost, looking at what we stand to gain,
trusting
in God, and leaning on His Everlasting Arms? I'm closing here, in a
moment. I
don't think there's any one thing that keeps us in the faith. It could
be a
multitude of things. It could be just a desire to be saved, it could be
a
desire to keep ourselves unspotted from the world, it could be the love
of God,
it could be appreciating the fellowship. I had a couple of outings
yesterday,
just myself, and Mark Lanier, and Howard, went out for breakfast at
Emily's. And, last night, me and Rob
Severance and Ed Howes
went out to Highland Park to a place. And, it's not like we're going
out to eat
all the time, but it was Fellowship, and, it was enjoyable. It was just
catching up, asking a little bit about each other’s wellbeing, and what
do you
got going on, how about this, and even learning some new things about
each
other. That's what I'm talking about. But, either way, whatever it is
that
keeps us in the faith, let it keep us in the faith. Thank you very much
for
your time, and God bless.
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