WIXLIB

Sermon Notes – Failing ForwardBig Idea:Application:

Discussion Questions What are different categories in which people may start well but don’t finishwell? Describe areas of life where you want to finish well. What is at stake if you don’t finish well in these areas? How was Uzziah’s reign different from his dad’s? List some of Uzziah’saccomplishments? Why were these important? Who does the writer of Chronicles give credit to for all of Uzziah’saccomplishments? How many times does he say it? Why is he repeating thisidea? What leads us to believe we are self-sufficient and don’t need God anymore? Using paper or a dry erase board, make a list of things in your life you feelyou have absolutely no control over. Make another list containing the thingsin your life you feel you have complete control over. What does the list reveal?How much control do you actually have? Why don’t do we fool ourselves to believe we havemore control in our lives than we actually do? Whatare we really searching for we hope control will offer? What’s happens in someone’s life who eitherbelieves they have control over or strives to getcontrol over everything? How does recognizing your lack of power/controlhelp you to finish well?One-Year BibleReading PlanWEEK 22 Day 106Romans 4:13-5:21Ps 84 Day 107Romans 6-7Ps 85 Day 108Romans 8Ps 86 Day 109Romans 9:1-10:4Ps 87 Day 110Exodus 32-34Ps 88:1–6

MondayBy Kenny TibbettsScripture“Under their command was an army of 307,500 men trained for war, a powerfulforce to support the king against his enemies. Uzziah provided shields, spears,helmets, coats of armor, bows and slingstones for the entire army. In Jerusalemhe made devices invented for use on the towers and on the corner defenses sothat soldiers could shoot arrows and hurl large stones from the walls. His famespread far and wide, for he was greatly helped until he became powerful. Butafter Uzziah became powerful, his pride led to his downfall. He was unfaithfulto the LORD his God, and entered the temple of the LORD to burn incense onthe altar of incense.”2 Chronicles 26:13-16Pause1.Can you think of a situation where pride caused you or someone you knowto fail?2.Why is it sometimes easier to trust God at our worst than at our best?3.Give some examples of people whose humility and reliance on God makesthem more effective?PursueTake some time this week to memorize 2 Corinthians 12:10: “For the sake ofChrist, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions,and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”PrayThank God that in our weakness He is strong. Thank God that He makes Hisstrength manifest in our weakness. Ask God to keep you from the seductivedanger of pride. Pray that our church would be a church weak enough to displaythe strength of Jesus Christ.

Tuesday – Lord I Need YouBy George VolpeThere are a lot of ways to describe weakness. You can be weaker physicallythan someone who can handle more difficult physical activity. You can be weakermentally compared to someone who has a greater capacity to learn andunderstand the world we live in, or how things work, or how to solve problems orrecall things learned. You can also be weak emotionally.What is it like to be weak spiritually? You might have a tough time withstandingcertain temptations. You may find yourself unable to stand for Christ when thepeople around you are all against Him. You may really hate your enemies, eventhough you know Jesus said to love them and pray for them. You might findyourself doubting the truth of Scripture or feeling as though praying is a waste oftime. Whatever the category, no one wants to be weak.King Uzziah was just 16 years old when he became king over Judah. Bydepending on God and those who supported him he defeated one enemy afteranother. But when he began to think of himself as invincible in his own strength,he lost the blessing of God, and ended with a troubled life. That same story hasbeen repeated through the centuries where one ruler after another became drunkwith power and authority, abandoning the relationships that brought themsuccess. Even today there are leaders all over the world who have embracedtyranny, disregarding obedience toward God. They are marching toward ajudgment they cannot escape.Fred Rogers (“Mr. Rogers”) helped children everywhere to understand what todo when they could not overcome a situation. He sang a song using the words,“Just take a step back and ask for help.” Today, on PBS Daniel Tiger brings thatsame message to kids. Why is this message important? Because we are met withfrustration and weakness daily and we need to know how to respond. Whenchildren learn to “ask for help” it is a defeat for pride, and an encouragement toaccept that we cannot overcome all of our adversity on our own.Pride pushes away the help of others. When we admit our weakness and turnto God, we are opening our hearts to the provision of strength that only He cangive.God allows weakness in our daily walk so that we need His strength and welearn to depend on Him. This is a theme repeated often in Scripture. Asuncomfortable as it is, our weakness is a means to blessing for the glory of God.He is ready to provide the kind of strength we need that we can never find withoutHim.Read Psalm 40.

WednesdayBy Kenny TibbettsScriptureSo to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatnessof the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan toharass me, to keep me from becoming conceited. Three times I pleaded withthe Lord about this, that it should leave me. But he said to me, “My grace issufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I willboast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ mayrest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses,insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I amstrong.2 Corinthians 12:7-10Pause1.Have you ever considered that the struggle you face in your life might bethere to protect you from pride?2.If you were going to boast about your weakness, as Paul did, what mightyou boast about?3.How can Paul say, “I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships,persecutions and calamities?” How might we be able to say the samething?PursueTake some time this week to memorize 2 Corinthians 12:10: “For the sake ofChrist, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions,and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”PrayAsk God to give you a Jesus-focused perspective on your weakness. Ask Godto help you see the plan behind the pain. Ask God to help you be content withweakness, insult, persecution, hardship, and even calamity because of thestrength of God.

Thursday – You are Not Destinedto be Your ParentsBy Marshall Segal, desiring GodUzziah became king when he was sixteen, the same age we let children drivetoday. Two whole years before he would have been trusted to vote for anAmerican president, the people entrusted him to govern an entire nation of God’speople. Despite rising to power faster than teenage pop stars today, “he did whatwas right in the eyes of the Lord, according to all that his father Amaziah haddone” (2 Chronicles 26:4).When Uzziah’s father chose what was wrong in the eyes of God, the peopleconspired against him, so he fled in fear (25:27). But his own people hunted himdown and executed him. He died in shame, as a traitor and adulteress againstGod himself. Excommunication by death penalty was Uzziah’s inherited legacy.The people killed their own king, making his 16-year-old their sovereign. HowUzziah lives and serves in the wake of his father’s outrageous sins has everythingto do with how we live and serve in light of our parents’ failures. Uzziah didn’tthrow out everything his dad had done just because he had fallen in the end. No,Uzziah imitated what was right in God’s eyes in his father’s example, and heabandoned what was wrong in God’s eyes.Uzziah reigned for 52 years. Not only did he seek the true God, as his fatherhad once done but failed to do later in life, but he immediately set himself torepairing what was wrong or lost during his father’s reign. He took it upon himself,with God’s help, to recover the land lost in battle, to rebuild the wall in Jerusalem,and to reestablish God’s people against her enemies — not as reparations for hisfather’s sins, but as a renewal in the wake of sin. He took the ashes of his father’sfailures, and asked God to breathe new life into them.“But when he was strong, he grew proud, to his destruction. For he wasunfaithful to the Lord his God and entered the temple of the Lord to burn incenseon the altar of incense” (2 Chronicles 26:16). The sterling young king finally cavesto temptation as an old man. Like his father before him, he followed God for years,but then fell into terrible moral failure.He rejected his father’s failures, refusing to entertain or worship foreign gods,but he carved out failures of his own. Uzziah proves at the same time that we arenot destined to repeat our parents’ sins, and that every son and daughter is stillvulnerable to the sin inside each of us.If you are a son or daughter of failure, take heart. Like Uzziah, we can walkaway from the gods of our fathers. And like Jotham, we can reject the pet sins ourparents kept in the home. We may be more likely than others to repeat ourparents’ unique failures because we learned so much from them, but God’s wordand his Spirit can always rescue us from what is wrong in his eyes, howeveringrained the wickedness might be in our history and experience.Read the article at to-beyour-parents.

FridayBy Kenny TibbettsScriptureThe LORD said to Gideon, “You have too many men. I cannot deliver Midianinto their hands, or Israel would boast against me, ‘My own strength has savedme.’ Now announce to the army, ‘Anyone who trembles with fear may turn backand leave Mount Gilead.’” So twenty-two thousand men left, while ten thousandremained. But the LORD said to Gideon, “There are still too many men. Takethem down to the water, and I will thin them out for you there. If I say, ‘This oneshall go with you,’ he shall go; but if I say, ‘This one shall not go with you,’ heshall not go. “So Gideon took the men down to the water. There the LORD toldhim, “Separate those who lap the water with their tongues as a dog laps fromthose who kneel down to drink.” Three hundred of them drank from cuppedhands, lapping like dogs. All the rest got down on their knees to drink. TheLORD said to Gideon, “With the three hundred men that lapped I will save youand give the Midianites into your hands. Let all the others go home.” So Gideonsent the rest of the Israelites home but kept the three hundred, who took overthe provisions and trumpets of the others. Judges 7:2-8Pause1.What do you think makes the story of Gideon a great story of God’s strengthin our weakness?2.Why did God send so many men away?3.Have you ever looked around at your own life and felt like Gideon? As ifGod was taking away your strength and resources. Did you ever considerthat he may be doing so to display his own strength in your weakness?PursueInvite a friend or neighbor to our church this weekend as we start our brand newseries Good News!PrayPray for our church this weekend as we strive to be a church operating on God’sstrength rather than our own. Pray for God to show you where you need to losein your own life in order for God to receive the Glory.