Brokenness to Blessedness with Ptr. Joby Soriano (062418)

I want to start with a story about this this young man who had a dog he lost his dog and he loved his dogs so much he put a sign in the lost-and-found and he put it in social media and he put their lost dog three legs Oh No blind in left eye missing right ear tail broken recently castrated answers to the name lucky do you feel unlucky sometimes do you feel unlucky what's the opposite of unlucky what's the opposite of lucky it's not luck because we don't believe in luck it's blessed can you all say blessed blessed friends were starting a new series on the Beatitudes of Christ and Jesus had a great Sermon on the Mount beautiful Sermon on the Mount and there he told his people let me tell you what it really means to be blessed do you want to be blessed all of us we all want to be blessed the title of our message today is brokenness - blessedness can you all say that brokenness - blessedness we're looking at the Sermon on the Mount which is actually Matthew chapter 5 all the way to chapter 7 the Sermon on the Mount is not just the Beatitudes it's the entire three chapters 5 to 7 we're gonna look at Matthew chapter 5 verse 1 to 10 this afternoon let's all stand and read this together verse 1 says when Jesus saw the crowds he went up on the mountain and after he sat down his disciples came to him he opened his mouth and began to teach them saying blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven blessed are those who mourn for they shall be comforted blessed are the gentle for they shall inherit the earth blessed are those whose hunger and thirst for righteousness for they shall be satisfied blessed are the merciful for they shall receive mercy blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called sons of God blessed are those who been persecuted for the sake of righteousness for theirs is the kingdom of heaven wonderful please have a seat as you know this Sermon on the Mount was given by Jesus on a mountainside and if you join us every year to go to Israel you will see this mountainside and what's wonderful is that it is still untouched there are no communities no condominiums no no people living in this area this is the area right here and it's facing the Sea of Galilee it's a beautiful area it's high up in a mountain and there's a natural amphitheater so when you're in this spot up up there looking down and you speak your voice just goes all the way down it's it's just a beautiful acoustic in that area how many Beatitudes are there how many Beatitudes are there there are eight Beatitudes can you say eight eight Beatitudes these are eight statements of Christ that offer the best definition of a disciple in the New Testament these Beatitudes offer the best definition of a disciple in the New Testament in the passage it says his disciples came to him he opened his mouth and began to teach them friends Jesus was giving a job description of his disciples that's what it was a job description not only a job description but a job description with benefits for each job description there was a benefit to go along with it the word here disciple is the word student or learner student or learner you see in Jesus's day they didn't have colleges young people did not go off to college what they did is that they wanted to be an apprentice if they want to be a fisherman a carpenter I am a shepherd all they would do is apprentice under one of these masters they'd follow them observe them work with them like if you want to be a shepherd you followed the chief shepherd and you did whatever he did he tells you what to do you follow it you observe you asking questions and you work with him so the put to the point where you start smelling like sheep yourself okay you just go about that they day-to-day routine until finally you become a shepherd yourself if you want to be a carpenter you look for a master craftsman and you apprentice under that man you work for him you do whatever he tells you to do you get his tools and you practice with this tools a little by little until you become a carpenter yourself and this goes for whatever occupation that you want to to do occupation profession you were a disciple and your teacher was often called master that's where he went so then it's not unusual for these men to be following Jesus you have to understand that here the Sermon on the Mount Jesus did not yet choose his twelve disciples there were people who just followed him they heard Jesus they were admiring him they were inspired by him so they wanted to follow him they want Jesus to teach them to be like him so in the beginning there was actually 500 people they all called themselves were students where learners were here to to study Jesus and they followed him wherever he went as Jesus would teach and they would hear him they would say oh this is not for me and they would leave and you would see that the disciples in number started to decrease and decrease until Jesus chose his twelve disciples so here the first disciples are following Jesus and they're with him together with all the crowd in the sermon of the mount and for three and a half years Jesus was teaching these men making sure that they watched him they listened they observed and they asked questions taking and everything that Jesus had to teach them his plan for training them was very simple first you learned by watching then you learn by doing and then you learn by teaching watching doing and teaching and that's why the Great Commission is just like that in Matthew chapter 28 19 to 20 it says go and make disciples of all nations teaching them - teaching them everything I have commanded you friends you and I we're likewise to be disciples of Christ followers of Jesus Christ we must fulfill the Great Commission why because these were Jesus's last words these words were like his last mission his last mission for us to accomplish before he ascended into heaven these are very very important to him this is called discipleship CCF friends is a disciple making church that's what we are every member in CCF is to be a disciple who disciples others see your first disciple and then you're a disciple er that's why it works true disciples of Jesus Christ are those who disciple others I encourage you not to just be a member of this church coming in and out on Sunday is going to Bible studies once in a while don't be just a member be a disciple first and foremost of Christ and then whatever you learn whatever you you you learn lessons you pass it on to others you disciple other people because our spiritual life does not end and begin in this hall it starts when you go out as you go out into your world your circle of influence that's where you start living in life that people can see what Christ is really like and that they'll be attracted to him and want to know him as well in John chapter 15 Jesus says you did not choose me but I can you imagine Jesus I chose you every single one of you I chose you and he says and appointed you notice what this is appointment that you would go and bear fruit we need to go and bear fruit see friends there is the fruit of the Holy Spirit love joy peace patience kindness goodness gentleness faithfulness and self-control those are the fruits of the Holy Spirit but what he's talking about here is a different fruit this is the fruit where you go and make more followers of Christ that's what we're to do make followers of Christ Jesus phrased the Great Commission perfectly he was as a teacher he would say to us I made you my disciples I taught you everything you need to know now go and make other disciples and teach them everything I taught you that's discipleship passing on what you've learned to others the Christian Church for the past 2,000 years must focus on discipleship passing on the teachers teachings of Jesus to others the Beatitudes described the inner qualities of what a true Christian disciple looks like let me say that again the Beatitudes described the inner qualities of what a true Christian disciple looks like notice this is the list he is poor in spirit he mourns over his sins he is gentle he hungers and thirsts for righteousness he is merciful he is pure in heart he is a peacemaker and he is persecuted when I look at this list friends I say who can come up close to these standards who can even come up to these expectations can you it's like this is impossible and it really it is impossible if we try to do this on our own we cannot achieve this on our own what I'd like to do is go through eight weeks of breaking down each and every one of these Beatitudes so we can truly understand what do these truly mean what was the message behind each one and allow Jesus to teach us and allow us to walk in this path we need to follow this friends because you'll spot a disciple in the crowd you will see one of the will see these eight qualities in their life this is not a buffet that you can pick and choose which beatitude you like no this is a package deal Jesus is saying if you are my follower if you are my follower I expect you to have these characteristics in your life that will lead to conduct so conduct must flow out of character conduct must flow out of character a Christian is one who embraces and embodies the Beatitudes now the truth is friends you and I will never be perfect we'll never be able to achieve all of this in perfection don't be pressured don't worry God will take you one step at a time he knows what you can handle Jesus is challenging all of us to truly examine the condition of our soul and that's the purpose of this message today the objective is for each and one of us to really search our hearts to see where am I Lord where am I in comparison to what you where you want me to be seriously look at your lives as God sees you and if there's something in your life that you feel is not right then I pray that this message will speak to your heart and that you will make adjustments you will humbly admit and make those changes that you need to do to be a true disciple of Christ friends Christian is a journey and we're all going on this journey together the word beatitude comes from the latin word Beatus kaneohe bay Otto's Beatus and Beatrice means happy or blessed happy or blessed now the word blessed comes from the Greek word macario's can you all say that macario's and macario's means divine joy perfect happiness do you like that macario's divine joy perfect happiness this means it's a it's like an inner sense of satisfaction that does not depend on outward circumstances why it's an inner satisfaction do you want that I certainly want that I certainly want that that's happiness deep inside whether or not things happen on around you or not you've got this deep satisfaction in your heart it's a deep-seated knowledge of understanding that God graciously approves you accepts you and favors you he is forgiving you he has redeemed you he saved you what more can you be what more can you ask friends if I were to ask you are you happy that's a tough question right are you happy friends most people's happiness tends to go up and down all because of the situation's going on in their life this is to this truth happiness does not depend on your external situation it depends on what your internal disposition in other words happiness should not depend on whether you live in the Philippines or not happiness does not depend on whether you have a lot of likes on your Facebook page happiness does not depend on whether you have deaths or not happiness does not depend on on whether you lose 20 pounds or not happiness does not depend whether you're married or not happiness does not depend on on whether you have a boyfriend or not it doesn't matter now a shock uses bass sound your happiness does not depend on anything that's external nothing but the problem is most people they seek to be happy they seek to be blessed and they look for these blessings outside in the world it's the famous popularity its money its possessions its power its sensual pleasure all that which is really fake happiness friends the word blessed blessed is also a statement of how God sees and approves how people live a certain way so when you hear the word blessed it's not only from what you experience it's but how God looks upon you blessed is like approved by God that's what the blessed means now Max Lucado a Christian author he wrote a book entitled the applause of heaven and in that book he paraphrased the Beatitudes and this is what he came up with God applauds the poor in spirit he cheers the mourners continue he favors the meek he smiles upon the hungry he honors the merciful he welcomes the pure in heart he collapsed for the peacemakers and he rises to greet the persecuted amazing perspective the question to all of us today is this in your heart do you want the approval of God more than the approval of others that's a really important question do you want the approval of God much more than anything else more than your family members you want the approval of God more than your business workers coworkers is God's approval more important to you than your friends is God's approval for you more important than your closest loved ones let's realize friends that if we want God approval more than anything in this world then these Beatitudes should lead us to change our attitudes behavior must flow out of belief behavior must flow out of beliefs and that's what these Beatitudes are all about they show us what a disciple looks like and it also tells us how we can get God's approval from heaven two very important things let's take a closer look at the very first one Matthew chapter 5 verse 3 it says there everyone blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven when you first hear this and read this you say to yourself what's going on I don't really know what it means it doesn't sounds very clear we know what the word poor means we know what the word spirit means but poor in spirit what does that mean the best way to describe this is to answer the question what does it not mean that what does poor in spirit not being well first and foremost it does not mean being in poverty having no money because Jesus never said blessed are the poor no he said blessed are the poor in spirit so it's something totally different you never hear people who are poor say I'm so blessed that doesn't work right very few people would say that so when when Jesus says blessed are those who are poor in spirit what did he really mean well number one is to recognize to recognize your true condition before God see yourself as God sees you what is your condition another one is two it describes a person who is utterly helpless completely desperate for God at the same time it's a person who is totally empty of self and filled with humility empty of self and filled with humility now friends this is only realized when you come to know who God is when you really get to know who God is and seeing for all that he's worth you you look at yourself and you see yourself as nothing nothing in comparison to God this enables you to see how poor in you are it's the exact opposite of being rich in Pride now in the message translation of this verse the message Bible says you're blessed when you're at the end of your rope can you imagine that what a translation you're blessed when you're at the end of your rope and I realize that when you're at the end of your rope that's where God is when you can do nothing else when you're totally helpless and hopeless and and you're at the end your last straw it's God Himself who's there for you from the very beginning of the sermon Jesus is saying that you and I don't have the spiritual resources in of ourselves to put Jesus's teachings into practice we can't do it on our own but we are blessed when we realize that were spiritually bankrupt and when we come to that realization that without God we can't fulfill this but then with God he can help fulfill it in our lives he can allow us to be and do all that he created us to be and do here's the best definition of broke a poor in spirit the best definition is to be broken and desperate for God can you all say that to be broken and desperate for God until you and I come to the point that were so humbled were so broken we cannot and we will not admit our desperate need for God are you with me this is crucial you know as I look around I noticed that so many of you here were we're proud before you came to Christ would you agree you were proud in your past but when you gave your life to Jesus you all became humble it's all right how many of you are humble see what I mean yes a friend once said I was once conceited but now I'm perfect one day a young monk was searching for a secret so he went up to look for the old wise monk up in the forest he traveled and traveled overnight and he was looking and so finally he got to the really dense forest and he found a small little Hut and he knocked the hut and the man who came out was the was the wise old monk with long hair and a beard and when he saw the monk he got on his knees and the young monk you know said oh sir I honor you and I'm here because I want to know the secret of humility please tell me the secret of humility the older monk says I cannot tell you but I can show you follow me so hand in hand they walked in silence all the way to a river and they entered the river as he hold the young monks hand in his arm he held them and they walked to the river when they asked about waist-deep the older monk got the head of the young monk and he dumped it in the water and he kept it down in the water he was struggling and the young monk was flaming his arms he's going while he couldn't breathe and as soon as he saw that the young monk was going blue and ready to meet st. Peter he lifted him up out of the water and the young mouth just grew just grasping for air grasping for air he could believe he just almost drowned and the young man and the young monk was so angry but the older monk just looked at him and says if you can be as desperate for God as you are desperate to breathe right now you'll find the secret of humility class over the lessons ended friends are we as desperate for God as we are to breathe oxygen in this earth are we as desperate to live for God as we need oxygen to breathe on this earth do you really want that do you really want to know God to live for God do you want the happiness that only he can give you do you want the delightfulness the Exuma is the joy that only he could give let me say it again happiness does not depend on any of your external situations it depends on your internal disposition how you are with God in other words happiness depends on your attitude on the attitude of your heart it depends on the attitude of your heart there are three common attitudes of the heart the first one is pride the second is self-pity and the third is broken or humbled three different attitudes of the heart which one are you today look at this crazy scenario okay there's a plane that loads all these crates of fresh crispy 1000 peso bills okay and it's loaded up and the plane takes off and it's on its way to a destination and on the way two engines catch fire and the pilot says you know the only way to save the plane and the passengers is to throw out the cargo throw out the crates and sure enough they open the car gold and they throw out all the crates of money and the crates of mine start falling and opening and all this rain of 1000 peso bills come falling down on a special place on this special location and there just happens to be three men walking by and you know as they're there all of a sudden in comes mr. proud he walks in and he's boastful he thinks he knows everything he acted as if he's acting if he he's God's gift to man he feels his self-made he's got everything little does he know that he's the most insecure person in town well you can tell by his posture you know his favorite posture is his his arms are crossed over his chest he stands proud he's got a bad attitude he's always tight always stiff always closed and then the blessings of money comes our endowment honestly yes there it is I thought as the rain of money comes down he's not even paying attention to it I need this money what do you think I am poor I'm poor not no beggar besides if I get this money I'm gonna have to pay you banned I'll pay you back double I'll pay you back double I'm not poor I'm not poor and it touched the floor it's already dirty I don't like it I don't like it so he keeps his arms folded his chest so proud doesn't catch a single paper bill do you know people like that I don't but this is the truth the truth is there's no shortage of God's blessings but there's only shortage of people too proud to receive God's blessings let's talk to him and let's talk to him excuse me sir how long have you been jobless like five years five years and in those five years you've had no job offers people that offered you a job no I've gotten them I've gotten them but I'm only gonna take a job that's a manager's position see see companies need to know the value that I can give them companies need to know that I deserve a manager's position and besides it's I don't take any jobs that are not less than an hour from my house I don't wanna take the bus it's dirty if if it's longer than two hours my dad has to drive me to work your dad you mean you still live in your house your parents house yes under their roof they feed me they gave me a good allowance yes they do all of that huh I hope you don't mind my telling you but you know you are not desperate enough to work and desperate people are the ones who are successful they're the ones who get ahead can I ask you are you hungry a little you need to eat humble pie you need to eat humble you could just be a messenger you should take a job as as a messenger you can go to work in a bus who cares that people see you it doesn't matter you see humility brings favor to God in the book of James chapter 4 verse 6 it says their God opposes the proud but gives what grace to the humble gives grace to the humble in many ways pride prevents you and I from receiving the grace of God in walks mr. self-pity [Applause] mr. self-pity always feels sorry for himself he's always thinking about his his problems he's obsessed with his misery with the the way that life has dealt with him look at his posture he's eyes are cast down his hands are limp he likewise falls under the rain of cash God's blessings upon his life Wow Wow because of his posture self-pity doesn't even see the cash coming down his eyes are too focused on his problem has been self he doesn't see what's coming down from God have you met jobless people who's whose attitude is always grumbling complaining have you met people like that well friends let's talk to him excuse me have you tried applying for a sales job it's not fair God doesn't love me nothing is happening in my life everything is coming against me I didn't finish college oh I'm already 46 years old do you believe that 46 huh and I'm also sickly say I don't have to sin have you tried applying to be a call center agent you know they take people like you your age I feel out of place everyone everyone everyone is very young and that's my mama told me not to talk to these dangerous call-center ya know how about starting your own business have you tried to start your own business I'll surely fail of course you'll fail but you know we all fail but you have to get up you can't quit you have to keep on going you cannot stop you have to start over again I I can't take failure I'm not sure I'd be up till now I haven't won the lotto she I'm a failure it's impossible to talk sense to someone who's so full of themselves he won't listen to solutions he just wants everyone to pity him that's it if he only knew what the Bible says in Psalm 53 verse 12 it says there restore to me the joy of your salvation and sustain me with a willing spirit in walks mr. broken but blessed mr. broken but blessed he was a man who went through many trials but after going through the trials he's come out victorious with Christ he likes looking up in the air because he likes seeing what God has in store for him [Laughter] Wow truly blessed can I ask you do you believe that God's pure things come to you abundantly yes all I have to do is look up there and I see all the beautiful blessings around in fact but they wake up in the morning I would always say good morning Lord instead of saying good Lord is the morning again right whoa now tell me tell me tell me do you problems yes lots of those and how do you overcome these how are you how are you so happy well all I had to do was to realize that I had to trust the Lord with all of my heart and not the trust nor to lean on my own understanding in all my ways I have learned to acknowledge the Lord and he made the path of my life of my life really really straight and how did you gain this attitude well there was this one huge trial which hit my life very very hard so I tried my own way I insisted on my own I thought I could make it and just before I knew it my life was already crumbling down I was so helpless and I was so desperate and it came to a point that I had to humble myself and look up to Jesus and believe that he died for me that he rose again from the dead and I placed my faith and trust in him and only then I realized that only Jesus Christ can fill in the void I have in my heart Psalm 34 verse 18 says the Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit friends when you're broken by God you're more open to receive lessons and life from him let's give after the 3-band huh it doesn't end do you break or do you bounce do you break or do you bounce friends in life though let's say for example the ground is the hard trials of life those were the hard trials of life and would you agree that trials of life do not disappear overnight yeah just like pimples they don't disappear overnight okay bags don't disappear overnight wrinkles don't disappear overnight your husband does not disappear overnight and reappear as Piolo Pascual the next day that doesn't happen but now let's get real you and I we have problems and some of our problems are major problems like sickness relationships money and when we're faced with these problems we have a choice we have a choice what are we gonna choose friends are we gonna break or are we gonna bounce do you believe that God allows trials in your life for a purpose yes or no yes and I agree with you often times we get into trials because our own sinfulness we get into trials because of mean and malicious people friends but God allows all these trials to happen life is full of choices but at the same time life is full of potholes would you agree we have a lot of holes in the Phillipines potholes you have small medium and large and make an extra huge large okay and when you see these potholes as you fall into these puddles these are the trials and you have a choice you can either break or you can bounce I've got news for you friends God wants you to break don't be shocked he wants you to break it sounds bad but it's good listen to this if you and I would just bounce if you and I would just bounce the trials are there and we're bouncing we're bouncing are we learning anything no you and I are continuously going through the same trial over over again were suffering through the lesson we're not learning anything we're suffering through it and it's wearing is out it's wearing us down but God wants us to just break he wants us to just break understand that being broken there's not being mean destroyed God will not destroy you he wants to break you to make you new again he wants you to make make you new again you know I'm talking about yes 2nd Corinthians chapter 4 verse 8 to10 says this we are afflicted in every way perplexed persecuted struck down always carrying the body of the death of Jesus so that the life of Jesus may be manifest it may shine through may be glorified through our bodies as you go through difficult trials and and brokenness it doesn't mean that you're gonna be destroyed it means that God's gonna use that in order to make you better in this world friends broken things are often despised and thrown away think about it anything we no longer need what do we do with it we throw it away we throw it away damaged goods are rejected and that includes people in marriage when relationships break down the tendency is to walk away and find someone new rather than work on reconciliation in our world today it's full of people who were broken broken spirits broken hearts broken relationships friends this brokenness happened just once in our life no brokenness happens over and over again there is something about reaching the breaking point when you reach that breaking point it causes you to be humble it causes you to seek the Lord more sincerely King David is a perfect example he was once was a broken man he was so broken he cried out to God in Psalm 51 verse 10 and 17 he cried out to God saying created me a pure heart O God and a steadfast spirit within me the sacrifices of God are a broken spirit and contrite heart broken and contrite heart O God you will not despise there are some things that need to be broken and that's our pride our self will our stubbornness our sinful habits those all need to be broken is the true friends that oftentimes we are so concerned with one thing that we put above over over and above all other things and that one thing is our self-esteem our self-worth we put that over and above so many things we build up our our personalities that we look good to others we look good through success we look good through physical appearances how we dress what makeup we put on what jewelry etc we try to please other people all because we want to gain their their affirmation we're so vain we're so self-centered we'll do anything we can just to get others to like us to appreciate us to approve us to validate us we're so selfish for attention and oftentimes will compromise our morals will compromise our virtues just in order to be able to achieve status achieve significance that is totally opposite of what a follower of Jesus Christ does you see friends one who is committed to God who's truly committed to Christ knows that they are nothing to God nothing to God we are absolutely nothing and our reputation is worthless we don't have anything to prove to anybody we need to focus on God and please him get his approval the poor in spirit are those who are concerned and conscious their sin and they know that they're completely lost and that they need God's grace and oftentimes they feel unworthy of that grace the Bible says that God breaks those who are stubborn and rebellious if that's you today there will come a time that God is going to break you you can either break or bow it's up to you but if I were you I will not resist God because fair with a mighty Pharaoh at one time in his life challenge God he challenged God and what did God do to him in the Book of Leviticus chapter 26 verse 13 it says I am the Lord your God who brought you out of Egypt so that you would no longer be slaves to the Egyptians continue I broke the bars of your yoke and enabled you to walk with heads held high you see what God did God was the one who broke the yoke a bondage of Pharaoh and set the people free to us broken things are oftentimes despised broken things are worthless we set them aside but God can take what has been broken and he can remake it into something that's beautiful he can restore it he can make it something better than it was and use it for his glory that's what God can do broken things and broken people are oftentimes a result of sin but what did God do God sent His Son Jesus Christ who was without sin and he became broken in order that we might be saved from our sin friends on the night that Jesus had his last supper with his men he took the bread and he broke it and gave it to them he went all the way to the hill of Calvary broken to die that we might live that we might live his death made it possible for the broken sinful humanity to be reconciled to God without the brokenness of Jesus we would not be reconciled to God we would not be healed from our sin without the broken body of Christ we could not be made whole we would have no hope we would have no joy we'd be helpless I say a chapter 53 verse 5 says this but he was pierced this is Jesus Christ for our transgressions he was crushed for our iniquities the punishment that brought us peace was upon him and by his wounds we are healed only when you and I surrender our lives to Christ can we be restored and transformed such surrender takes a brokenness it takes brokenness can you resist brokenness yes you can you can resist it if you wish if you choose to but you're not gonna get anywhere friends the prodigal son in all his pride took his inheritance from his father before his father passed away he took that he went away and he lived like a like a bachelor king he enjoyed his life he spent it on all kinds of things for pleasure it came to a point where he ran out of money there was a great famine he had no food he had no work he was willing to eat the food of the pigs friends that's the most disgusting thing any Jew can ever do to even touch a pig it just it's unheard of but during that sewer famine he came to the lowest point of his life that he was willing to do anything in the book of Luke chapter 15 verse 17 19 it says there but when he came to his senses he said I will get up and go to my father and I will say to him father I have sinned against heaven and in your sight I am no longer worthy to be called your son make me as one of your hired men do you see the heart of the particle son it came to the point where he says I came to my senses can't her senses you and I have got to come to our senses we've got to get to our senses and he confess he admitted he says father I have sinned he knew he was sitting against father his father in heaven and his father earthly father I've sinned against heaven and in your sight I'm no longer worthy do you see that do you see the the brokenness of this man he was broken to the core totally broken this is what poor in spirit is all about now you're pricing there and you're wondering to yourself okay what does this mean how do I get broken how do I get broken do I have to pray to be broken is that way works friends listen to this it first starts with trials can you all say that trials God allows these trials because he wants to get our attention are you going through trial right now you're either going through a trial or you just came out of a trial one or the other but when you go through a trial friends listen don't just bounce deny it blame other people run away don't do that don't pray to God with conditions Lord if you do this I'll do this if you do this no no that'll lead to self-centeredness when you go through a trial be humbled go through humility can you say that humility goes through humility humility is simply it's accepting the fact that you cannot do anything you're helpless on your own that's what humility is accepting the fact that you're totally helpless on your own and this leads to brokenness can you please say that brokenness brokenness is being completely empty of self and desperate for God I'm so broken I need you Lord just like the prodigal son and from brokenness its leads you to surrender everyone surrender surrenders cry out to God and saying Lord no one else but you no one else but you and when you surrender you confess every one confession you pour out your heart to God say Lord I have sinned against you this is what I've done this is what I should do Lord I'm coming clean that's what you do you confess and this is where God can finally start working in your life why because it's now that you can finally listen to God here you're the prompting of his voice in your heart can you say this please listen to God God draws us God calls us God longs to be with us so he can change us oftentimes we're so distracted by the things of this world that's why fasting is so important we're distracted with our problems we're distracted with our families were distracted with our work we're distracted with our careers that our future and our unhappiness and all these things we can't even hear God and so as you go through prayer and fasting it's a time when you can just be silent before Lord and really hear him speak to your heart sometimes we must be broken before we can realize that our deepest need is to be reconciled with God to be intimate with him only then can you and I be made new brothers and sisters when you're humbled when you're broken when you're surrendered you can begin to trust and obey God can you say that trust and obey God then and only then will you discover that your weakness is his strength your weakness is his strength our solutions to trials is never to try to do things on our own it's never to try to strive with our own efforts our own connections and all that know when you're going through trial it takes brokenness friends it takes brokenness when we recognize our desperate need for God alone when we take our eyes off of ourselves and put our eyes on him focus on him alone when we stop thinking about ourselves our thinking about how Jesus died for us that's what our life starts getting together when we stop worrying about our life put God on the center that's when things start happening when we confess that we are broken God makes us into what he wants us to be the poor in spirit will enter the kingdom of God why because they're the ones who know and recognize their lostness their sinfulness they're the ones who will come before the Lord in humility and receive him trust him and obey Him proud people will never understand this principle and in the process they will never receive God's promised blessings in Luke chapter 18 there's a very clear illustration on what poor in spirit is all about Jesus said one day two men went up to the temple to pray one a self-righteous Pharisee feeling good about himself he prayed like this Luke chapter 18 verse 11 god I thank you that I'm not like other people swindlers and adulterers and even like this tax collector I fast twice a week I pay tithes of all that I get Lord you're really lucky to have me on your side can you imagine that how dare he say all these things but the other man who is in a bit distance he had he felt unworthy to enter the temple he could just stand by the door bow his head he didn't even have the courage to look up he was filled with the burden of his sin he cried out beating his chest God have mercy on me a sinner two men in the temple praying one was a Pharisee the other was a tax collector and let me just tell you that tax collectors in those days are like the tax collectors today stereotyped to be people of dishonesty etc I'm not saying they're all are but that's the same impression people had for them in those days but this tax collector was broken this tax collector had been changed by God you can hear his heart you have the Pharisee and the Pharisee well he was rich with pride the tax collector he was poor in spirit the Pharisee thought highly of himself the tax collector he admitted his sinfulness the Pharisee he enumerated his accomplishments the tax collector he was depressed by his own sin the Pharisee he boasted a tax collector he begged the Pharisee he recommended himself to God the tax collector he pleaded for God's mercy let me ask you who was lost and who was saved the Pharisee he was lost but the tax collector he was saved whose prayer did God listen to the Pharisees prayer well let me tell you something because the Pharisee really wasn't praying he was giving God his resume but Jesus said God heard the prayer of the tax collector because he heard the words from broken contrite heart and that's the prayer he listened to after that whole incident Jesus gave the moral of the story he told them everyone who exalts himself will be humbled but He Who humbles himself will be exalted when we are humbled when we are broken when we are surrendered God makes us whole he gives us a new life a new meaning to life a new purpose a new joy and I pray that each and every one of us will remember blessed are those who were poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven did you learn something today I really pray that you would apply whatever it is that you've learned and how God has spoken to your heart don't wait don't wait don't let weeks pass whatever it is you need to do do it right away are you broken enough to listen to my poem are you the title of my poem is no it's it's it's blessed okay you're on the man a nappy okay blessed here he goes blessed are those who know they need God nothing in life compares when they're odd blessed are those who live lives of simplicity rather than insecurity insanity filled with vanity blessed are those who work for forgiving their enemies turning bitterness to love making them friend enemies you've heard that word no it's a new word okay blessed are those who refuse to judge others as they might be biased against their own brothers blessed are those who spend hours with God in silence and solitude they want to applaud blessed are those who share the good news that many may be spared from being confused blessed are those who live as citizens of heaven loving God with their bags packed and forgiven blessed are those who receive God's grace passing it on to others it's God's eternal embrace blessed are those who know success is not in this earth it's in trusting God for their precious second birth I love that one blessed are those who are broken from God's trials humbled and surrendered praising God with their smiles blessed are those who are constant a cause of blessing to all God's paradise is awaiting just listen for his call praise be to God from popular request I put some discussion questions here please feel free to take pictures of these and the purpose of this is to discuss this with your family discuss it with your small group get deeper into the message make it applicable make it real in your life don't let the message go to waste by not discussing it okay let's join our hearts in a word of Prayer our loving God we thank you we thank you and thank you so much for loving us and sharing with us the secret of life Lord it's not about bouncing it's about breaking breaking before you allowing our lives to be truly surrendered in humility before you I pray for my brothers and sisters here father you know the trials that they're going through you know the hurts you know the pains you know the helplessness that they feel and yet Lord God we know that you were there you are there to catch them and to restore them and to remake them and to teach them lessons that only you can teach them may we humble ourselves father before you may we realize that without you Lord we're nothing and so father we ask you to be gentle with us gentle with our children allow us Lord to learn lessons with gentleness thank you Lord for your life and for all that you've done for us father I know that you brought special guests here today and they're here because of people who love them who took time to invite them and bring them here today and we know Lord God that every encounter with you is precious and I pray for all the guests who are here today that they would not leave this place without having a chance to make them make their lives part of yours I pray father that you've spoken to their lives and friend if that's you I pray that you would humble yourself as I lead you in a prayer make this prayer your prayer Lord God I I need you I'm helpless I'm confused many times Lord I'm trying to live life my way but I realize that there's no other way except your way I humble myself Lord today and I admit that I'm a sinner I've come into many sins against you and for that Lord I'm I'm asking for your forgiveness father today I open my heart and I ask you to come into my life today I receive you as my Lord and my Savior thank you for your forgiveness of my sins thank you for loving me the way I am thank you Jesus for dying on the cross to pay for all my sins thank you Lord for embracing me with your unconditional love thank you Father for making me brand new I love you Lord and I pray for all of us father as we leave this place that our lives would truly be a reflection of brokenness that's turned into blessedness that because of our blessings Lord we can bless others and we would lead them to come to know you in a very personal way use each and every one of us Father to make a difference and impact this world we love you we praise you we thank you we give you all the glory and all the honor that you and you alone deserve we pray this in Jesus most precious name Amen and they men glory to God I love you guys

Channel: CCF Alabang

Views: 5,556

Rating: 4.875 out of 5

Keywords: ccf, alabang, sunday, service, joby soriano

Id: -T5UsEXOcd4

Length: 57min 41sec (3461 seconds)

Published: Mon Jun 25 2018