Sep 5, 2021 - Bartimaeus Journey from Darkness to Light

[Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] so [Music] [Music] do [Music] so [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] do [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] good morning welcome to harvest hills alliance church welcome to those that are joining us online both on facebook live and youtube it is great to be able to gather it is great to be able to worship god together we are excited for the opportunity we have to lift on high the name of jesus today we'll be reminded that jesus christ is our lord and savior and we have an opportunity to praise and to glorify his name and that is good and that is the right thing for us to do today led us passionately with our whole selves lift on high the name of jesus and worship him who is so worthy of our praise i'd like to highlight a few things within our faith faith community and the first one is next sunday we're going to see a lot of changes and if we think back over this past pandemic these 18 months when we hear the word changes that usually means a bad thing but rest assured changes next week is a good thing and i'm excited for them and i hope that you are as well it's all going to be a great uh change for us we're going to be going back to two services so starting next sunday we'll have a 9 15 and an 11 o'clock service and at our 9 15 that will be the service that we stream going forward so for those that are joining us online instead of joining us at 10 o'clock we'll be online at 9 15 and you can catch our live stream at that time or when you're able to tune in later on during our 9 15 service we will have youth starting at nine o'clock so they're going to be coming a little bit earlier and then at 9 15 we'll have nursery through grade 4 when programming for them and then at our 11 o'clock service we'll have programming for nursery through grade six so it'll be a great morning we're excited for that many opportunities and there are many ministries that are going to be starting in the next couple weeks so we encourage you to check out our bulletin at hhachurch.com for any information on specific ministries and we'd encourage you to check that out lots of great information there now also next sunday following our 11 o'clock service we'd encourage those that are at our 11 to stay and those that come to our 915 to come back we're going to be having a harvest hawaiian hoopla we haven't been able to travel over these last few months so we're bringing hawaii to north central calgary does that sound like a good idea we're excited for this we're going to have pulled pork sandwiches games activities and yes a dunk tank so we're hoping it's going to be hot because i heard the water is going to be cold and i might end up in it so we're excited for that it's going to be a great day all you need to bring is a lawn chair we'll supply the rest and it'll be a great opportunity to connect with each other once again next sunday after 11 o'clock service harvest hawaiian hoopla please come back and stay if you're at the 11 and it's going to be a great time to connect and just have a good time together one of the challenges this past year is be able to plan and organize different events not knowing what restrictions are going to be at that given time and as a result we weren't able to do our stampede breakfast and that's an amazing serve for our community and we have so many people that we're able to have interaction with and contact serve our community we hear from so many people on how they love that event so we are going to be doing a harvest community carnival on saturday the 17th and this is going to 18th sorry and this is going to be a great opportunity to bless the community to get to know those that are in the north central calgary and there's going to be a great opportunity for us to represent jesus it's going to be a barbecue there'll be carnival treats bouncy houses a petting zoo so it's kind of a combination of our stampede breakfast with a barbecue in the fall so we're looking forward to that we do need some help with that and we'd encourage you to check out the table in the foyer you can sign up to be a part of volunteering for that the event itself will run from 11am until 2pm and this will just be a way to bless the community we're looking for people to help out on the saturday as well and we do need some individuals on the friday to help us prepare so if you're busy saturday and able to come friday again pastor diane will be in the foyer following the service and you can register to be a volunteer for that event and that will be a great way to serve our community 11 till 2 next saturday this saturday and then speaking to pastor diane she is looking also for cement for many volunteers to help out with kids ministry as we can continue forward in the fall we know that youth and children are a blessing we believe that they're a gift from god made in the image of jesus and we're going to provide programming that will help them grow in their relationship with jesus christ as well as grow in the individuals that god has created them to be so we need some help in that way diane will be in the foyer as i said looking at the looking after some carnival sign ups and she'd love to talk to you about children's ministry as well so if you'd like to be involved please talk to pastor diane we're looking for people from nursery through grade four and there's a great opportunity for anybody to get involved please talk to pastor diane and she can give you some more information about what's entailed and how you can be part of such an incredible ministry now these words from ephesians chapter 2 as we prepare our hearts it says this god saved you by his grace when you believed and you can't take credit for this it is a gift from god salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done so none of us can boast about it for we are god's masterpiece he has created us anew in christ jesus so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago let us praise the name of jesus the god who created us as his masterpiece together today good morning everybody it's great to see you all here i'd like to invite you to stand and join with us in worship as we sing praises to our god [Music] let's declare this together i count on one thing the same god that never fails will not fail me now you'll fail me now in the waiting the same god who's never late is working all things out you're working all things out so yes i will lift you high in the lowest valley yes i will bless your name [Music] yes [Music] i count on one thing the same god that never fails will not fail me now you won't fail me now in the waiting the same god who's never late is working all things out working all things out yes i will lift you high in the lowest valley yes i will bless your name yes i will sing for joy when my heart is heavy all my days yes i will i choose to praise to glorify glorify the name of all days but nothing can stand against i choose to praise to glorify glorify the name [Music] to glorify glorify the name of all names [Music] bless your name [Music] yes i will sing for joy when my heart is heavy all my days yes i went for all my days yes i will for all my days yes i will [Music] [Music] i love you lord oh your mercy never fails me all my days i've been held in your hands from the moment that i wake up until i lay in my head oh i will sing of the goodness of [Music] you have god faithful all my life you have been so so good with every breath that i am able oh i will sing of the goodness of god i love your voice you have led me through the fire [Music] in darkest night you were close like no other known you as a father i've known you as a friend and i have lived in the goodness of god [Music] if you have been faithful hold my life you have been so [Music] oh [Music] your goodness is running [Music] your goodness is running after it's running after me your goodness is [Music] everything your goodness is [Music] [Music] of the goodness of god [Music] you have been so good [Music] of the goodness of god of the goodness of god [Music] who am [Music] i was lost but he brought his love for me [Music] child of god yes i am [Music] freed last he has ransomed me his grace [Music] yes [Music] [Music] yes i am in my father's house there's a place for me i'm a child of god yes i am i am chosen not forsaken i am who you say i am you are for me not against me i am who you say i am i am chosen not forsaken i am who you say i am you are for me not against me i am who you say i am oh i am [Music] i'm a child of god yes i am [Music] in my father's house there's a place [Music] of god yes i am [Music] in my father's house there's a place for me [Music] i'm a child of god yes i am [Music] [Music] romans 6 says for we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with that we should no longer be slaves to sin because anyone who has died has been set free from sin now if we died with christ we believe that we will also live with him for we know that since christ was raised from the dead he cannot die again death no longer has mastery over him the death he died he died to sin once for all but the life he lives he lives to god in the same way count yourselves dead to sin but alive to god in christ jesus therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires do not offer any part of yourself to sin as an instrument of wickedness but rather offer yourselves to god as those who have been brought from death to light and offer every part of yourself to him as an instrument of righteousness for sin shall no longer be your master because you are not under the law but under grace [Music] how great the chasm that lay between the us i could not climb in desperation i turned to heaven and spoke your name into the night then through the darkness your loving kindness tore through the [Music] [Music] jesus christ by living home who could imagine so prayed on mercy what heart could father such boundless grace the god of ages stepped down from glory to where i sin and bear my shame the cross has spoken i am forgiven the king of kings calls me his own beautiful savior [Music] i'm yours forever jesus christ my living home hallelujah praise the one who set me free hallelujah death has lost its grip on me you have broken every chain there's salvation in your name jesus christ then came the morning that sealed the promise your buried body began to breathe out of the silence [Music] then came the morning [Music] out of the silence [Applause] [Music] jesus [Music] hallelujah praise the one who set me free hallelujah death has lost its grip on me you have broken every chain there's salvation in your name jesus christ hallelujah praise the one who set me free hallelujah [Music] death has lost its grip on me you have broken every chain your salvation in your name jesus by christ home jesus christ by living home jesus christ you may be seated if yeah so i know you haven't been up here for a little while i haven't been up here for a little while you might be just as nervous as i am to be standing up here and i don't see a whole lot of like younger kids but come on up come on up honey come on up i'll move the cords come on come on come on up yep you don't have to be scared of me i like kids come on you guys have a seat have a seat at the front just have a seat at the front hi honey how are you i don't know your name but i'm sure we'll get to know each you can come sit right here sweetie you can come sit right up here okay i'm just moving the cord so you don't trip have a trip come on have a seat have a seat come on up have a seat you can scooch down a little bit scooch you can sit right on the front roll right there open the bottom honey okay thank you pastor duhan wow it has been quite a few months since i've seen some of you some of you i've never met before and that's because you haven't been in harvest kids before that's okay we'll get to know you you guys are looking fantastic just gotta say so one of my favorite stories and if you've been in harvest kids for a while or if you've been in harvest kids before you probably know this story and maybe you've even heard me tell it before so the story one one of my favorite stories in the story i like to tell is because there are so many things jam-packed into this story we don't have time to talk about all of them today but my favorite story is the story of david and goliath some of you are going oh yeah mr vernon i've heard this story a hundred times you can't tell me anything about it might be true but we know some things we know that goliath was huge right almost 10 feet tall huge he had big arms he had big hands he was a champion that's what the bible tells us he was an ex experienced in battle he knew how to do battle he knew how to fight he was huge and he and his team let's call him his team they were having a little battle with a guy named david and david's team we don't know a lot about david at this point in his life we know that he was the youngest of a whole bunch of brothers we know that he was a shepherd we know that david didn't have a whole lot of equipment when he was out looking after the sheep if you know the story maybe you've read it in a book maybe you've seen it in a little movie you know how the story ends goliath had all kinds of protection he had a shield he had a sword he had a big helmet uh he had a guy that would help carry his his shield he had a big um what did i say a sh sword he had a big spear he had all kinds of protection things on his shins to protect his legs david what do we know about david what did david have can somebody tell me what did david have david had a sling that's all he had and five stones right that's all david had what do we know you guys know how this battle ends we know what happened to goliath david beat goliath why did david beat goliath because god was on david's side right god was in control that's what we know about the story let's talk about some stuff that's going on today all kinds of crazy things happening in the news right all things you know guys i'm sure you've all heard the word covid and what covid means and you've heard your moms and dads and other adults talking about kovid kovet is crazy us adults lots of times we don't know what's going on i heard pastor aaron and prop pastor myron talking this morning about clovid we don't even know what the rules are for church anymore should we wear a mask don't we have to do we have to wear a mask we don't know it all it seems like it changes every day and i know it's affected lots of things for you guys in school sometimes you're in class sometimes you're at home sometimes you're learning on the computer sometimes mom and dad were trying to help you at home while they were doing their own jobs because they were working from home all kinds of crazy things and it seemed like moms and dads and adults we were always listening to news what are the rules going to be today because we never knew you know what we haven't seen the end of this covet story yet have we we still don't know what's going to happen but one thing we do know god knows about covid and god is in control right 2020 when you think about 2020 has anybody been to the eye doctor yet before you went to school this year maybe you went to the eye doctor two times and when you went to the doctor and the eye doctor looked at your eyes and i see you don't wear glasses like me and if you have really really really good eyes what does a doctor say you have 20 20 vision right 20 20 vision that's what the eye doctor says okay when we think about the year 201 and 2020 means perfect great vision when we think about the year 2020 we think in the beginning of the year we think if we look back mostly as adults things were going great the economy was great we had jobs everything was going great and then march hit the middle of march and it seemed like everything fell apart right i know i went home i was working from home in about june of that year um so before i go there you know in your body you've got all kinds of little blood vessels and sometimes if you look at your arm you can see little blood vessels and little red or blue lines they look like in your arms or in your legs those are called blood vessels or veins and sometimes if we have little things going wrong in our bodies sometimes we'll get a little block in our in our blood vessels and if those little blocks if they go into our heart you might hear about somebody that had a heart attack if they go into our brains you might hear that somebody had a stroke well last june so june of 2020 the year that was supposed to be perfect so we thought i had a stroke so i had the doctor said i actually had a whole bunch of little blocks in my brain and it happened really quick and i hardly felt anything but the doctor still had to do some tests so i spent some time in the hospital and the doctors did a whole bunch of tests and took pictures of my body that are really clearly cool because they can see everything in my body or your body if you ever have a test of pictures like that and while the doctors were doing those tests they said mr vern we think you have some cancer in your body well that was pretty scary news for me and my family and we didn't know what to do so since june of last year every three weeks i've been going to the hospital and every three weeks the doctors give me some special medicine and it makes me a little bit sick for a few days and then i start to feel better and then i go back to the hospital and i get some more special medicine and they put it right into my right into my blood vessels into my veins so i don't know what's going to happen i don't know what the future holds for me but i know one thing i know god is in control that's what i know so mr vern what does that story mean for us all of us kids sitting up here today and for the adults today what does that mean for us if you've been in harvest kids before you may have heard me say this before the most important decision you can ever make and some of you know already what i'm going to say the most important decision you can ever make is to ask jesus into your life jesus wants to be in control of your life jesus wants to have a special relationship with you a special friendship with you and that as you've heard me say before right jesus wants to have a very special relationship with you and that's the most important decision you can ever make in your life if you want somebody to help you to pray with you you can talk to pastor diane you can talk to a sunday school teacher you can talk to pastor myron or pastor aaron you can talk to maybe mom and dad anybody okay start with mom and dad and they can help they can pray with you and help you ask jesus into your heart okay thank you great listening hope to see you again in sunday school you can go back to moms and dads thank you mr vern for sharing that story and sharing some of your story as well we know it's been a challenge for you we've been praying for you as we have been praying for many others in our faith community over this past year for known issues as well as for unknown issues so we know that our god is a god who hears our prayers and we are grateful to be able to partner in the ministry of prayer in any way that we can and we as just so everybody is aware we would count that a privilege to come alongside anybody during whatever may be going on in your life if you would require prayer please reach out to the church at this time in our service we're going to take a moment to receive our ties and offerings there's a number of ways that this can happen for those in the room there's offering plates available at the back on your way out you can drop off your gift then for those online and for those in the room as well you can give through our website at hhachurch.com give or through e-transfer using the email address giving at hhchurch.com and use the message window with your contact information as well as your designation of your gift gifts can also be dropped off or brought into the church office throughout the week let us pray father god we thank you that you are in control we thank you for that reminder today we thank you that you know what's going on and that you're not surprised by today and you won't be surprised by tomorrow and that you hold the world in your hands father we thank you that you love each and every one of us and that you poured out your love for us by paying the price for our sins on the cross and that we have an opportunity to experience the fullness of life the fullness of relationship with our god our father in heaven father i pray that today that we will sense your presence in a very special way and that you will continue to reveal yourself in a way that will transform our hearts and our lives father we know that the season's been hard and that many people have maybe grown further away from you than they would have hoped or maybe people don't know you and they're trying to understand what it means to have a relationship with god father we pray that you will pour your spirit upon them in a very special way and that they will sense your presence and your peace and that they will see a god that loves them a god that is pursuing them father today as we worship your name i pray that you will be pleased with the offering of of praise that we give to you today father and we pray that you will continue to have your way amongst us here fill this place with your spirit fill our homes with your spirit wherever we're joining today father we pray that the spirit of god will be evident in a very special and life-changing way father we thank you for our international workers that are serving around the world that are like us dealing with difficulty and uncertainty and just varying of restrictions father we pray that as many of our international workers are heading back into the field for those that have been in canada we pray that you will protect them that you'll watch over them that you'll give them many opportunities to be your hands feet and voice in the countries that you've called them to serve father we pray that you will open doors that you'll give chances for them to share the hope and love of jesus that you will give them favor in the communities that they serve and that they'll be able to represent the gospel of jesus we thank you that they are on mission with you and for you and to partner with harvest hills alliance church and father for us here in calgary i pray that you will help us to see our communities our neighbors everybody that we come in contact with as people created in the image of god and so worthy of your love and that we will reach out sharing the impact that you've had on our life and that we will represent you well father these gifts that we're about to receive we pray that you will use them for kingdom purposes to impact the kingdom of god and to make your name famous in our city our country and the world we thank you that you are at work in jesus name we pray amen good morning friends who joined us online in north central calgary or perhaps airdrie points beyond great to connect with you welcome to you who are in our auditorium in person again a warm welcome to each one of you today we're wrapping up our summer road trip teaching series and god willing next sunday will launch into our new teaching series it's called ekg living out the heart of the gospel ekg of course stands for exponential kingdom growth and that's our strategy going forward for a ministry of spiritual multiplication in north central calgary and points beyond and everybody that's a part of the harvest family gets to be on side with that exciting adventure of making jesus love and hope real in the lives of the people that we're neighbors to all over this part of our city so today we wrap up and i would invite you to take your bibles and turn to luke chapter 18 verses 35 to 43 on your device luke 18 35 to 43 and this is the final message in our summer road trip series and i hope that this summer you've enjoyed had some fun with and been challenged by the different journeys from the word of god that we have studied together now when you think of famous people who are visually impaired who comes to mind maybe you think of helen keller someone said stevie wonder maybe andrea bocelli or perhaps the great gospel hymn writer fanny crosby how about this person has anyone heard of charlie boswell not so many charlie lost his sight while serving his country overseas in the second world war he was rescuing a friend from a tank that was on fire well sometime after that charlie returned home and after a period of recovery he determined that he would not let his blindness his ability hold him back and so charlie took up of all things golfing and he became a very good golfer very quickly charlie passed away in 1995 regularly shot in the low 80s if you do any golfing at all you know that that's a primo score he on three occasions shot a hole in one 16 different times charlie won the national blind golfing championship and then one day in 1958 charlie was awarded for his golf prowess and for his perseverance the prestigious ben hogan award part of winning that award meant that he was going to get to meet his hero the great golfer ben hogan and ben hogan was in that era kind of like rory mcilroy would be in our day he was the golfer so there was charlie he received his award he got a chance to meet ben hogan and he was starstruck by his own admission but he got his wits together enough to tell mr hogan that one of his bucket list items was that at some time in his life he'd have a chance to shoot a round of golf with mr hogan well ben hogan quickly agreed to this then charlie said would you like to play for money ben hogan said i don't think we should do that charlie chirped him a little bit and said come on mr hogan are you afraid of losing to a blind guy mr hogan said okay i'll play you for much charlie said how about a thousand dollars a hole ben hogan was totally rattled as the story goes and he said charlie that's a lot of money how many strokes do you want me to give you and charlie said i do not want any strokes i'll play you straight up ben hogan said charlie i cannot do that what would that look like to everybody else that i took advantage of a blind man and charlie boswell said to ben no need to worry mr hogan our tea time is set for 10 o'clock tonight don't you love it that's good this morning we're going to study an encounter that the lord jesus had with a man as he journeyed on the road through jericho and ultimately to jerusalem so you've got your device or your bible in hand follow along as i read luke 18 beginning with verse 35. as jesus approached jericho a blind man was sitting by the roadside begging when he heard the crowd going by he asked what was happening they told him jesus of nazareth is passing by he called out jesus son of david have mercy on me those who led the way rebuked him and told him to be quiet but he shouted all the more son of david have mercy on me jesus stopped and ordered the man to be brought to him when he came near jesus asked him what do you want me to do for you lord i to see he replied jesus said to him receive your sight your faith has killed you immediately he received his sight and followed jesus praising god when all the people saw it they also prayed god praise god just before we dive into this passage of scripture three general observations first of all as this passage of scripture unfolds our lord jesus is about a week away from that day and that moment in which he will willingly in love give himself on the cross of calvary to death for the sins of the world so at this point in jesus earthly ministry he is headed for jerusalem with resolve as he journeys an entourage of people a caravan of people including his closest disciples are journeying with him here's a second observation we know from mark and matthew's parallel account that the blind guy's name was bartimaeus just means the son of timaeus now bartimaeus literally appears on the pages of scripture one time and that is in relation to this specific moment in history in other words he had one chance to meet jesus and he did i do not in any sense intend to be cheesy or melodramatic but could that reality be the case for someone here today or someone who's connecting online with us that this is your one chance to meet jesus what's for sure is we do not know what the future holds none of us know that that's why the bible would say today if you hear his voice do not harden your heart here's the third observation i make bartimaeus whom we commonly know as blind bartimaeus is by no means the only blind guy in this passage of scripture the disciples of jesus were also suffering from some serious myopia we're going to see that in the passage of scripture but flip back a few verses to chapter 18 and verse 15 to get a sense of what i'm talking about verse 15. people were bringing babies to jesus for him to place his hands on them when the disciples saw this they rebuked them but jesus called the children to him and said let the little children come to me and do not hinder them for the kingdom of god belongs to such as these do you get what i'm saying the blind man is not the only blind person in this passage of scripture in fact you could argue that the blind man was actually the least blind person in the story now the word of god teaches then that every person has two sets of eyes we have physical eyes and the gift of sight is an amazing gift we also have spiritual eyes and apart from the transforming grace of god upon us in christ jesus when we make a volitional faith decision to yield our lives to king jesus as the only one who could forgive us and lead our lives we are totally blind we're as blind spiritually as bartimaeus was physically but here's the awesome good news our king jesus give sight to the blind amen now let's dive into the scripture and first of all see in that 35th verse the condition of bartimaeus we already know but let's read the verse as jesus approached jericho a blind man was sitting by the roadside begging so there was a blind man his name was bartimaeus he was sitting there and he was begging now in our world three percent of canadians are blind or have some degree of visual disability that's 750 000 people worldwide 253 million people are fully blind or have some degree of visual impairment imagine living in a world where you couldn't see the rolling cascade of a waterfall or watch a sunset or the stars in the sky or the smile of a child imagine a world in which life for you is a dark hallway that was bartimaeus and there are quite a few other people in our own country and around the world that are in the same situation again the gift of sight is an amazing gift and for that gift that god has granted me and us today we give him thanks amen but again the blindness of the man in the story bartimaeus is a picture of the spiritual condition of people apart from the lord jesus christ and so in second corinthians chapter four and verse four the word of god would say this the this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of christ who is the image of god apart from the spirit of god working through the word of god to open our eyes so that we can respond in faith to king jesus the one alone who could rescue us from our sins we are totally spiritually blind what's more in and of ourselves we can't do anything about it absolutely nothing but this is where our king comes in our lord jesus by his perfect sacrifice on the cross by his death and resurrection has purchased spiritual sight for every person who'll receive it by faith so if you by the grace of god and the transformational power of the lord jesus christ have your spiritual sight as you watch online or as you sit in the room this morning we give god thanks for our spiritual eyes right not only that as we move into this fall and the launch of our strategy for a minister of spiritual multiplication please join together harvest family in asking that the spirit of god would be poured out upon the surrounding communities that the eyes of people would be opened to see the glory of the lord jesus christ who is the one who is so able to give sight to the blind now there may be someone who's connected with us this morning and in an introspective moment in an honest moment with yourself and before god you'd say i'm actually walking right now in spiritual darkness i've never made a volitional faith choice to yield my life to the lord jesus christ hey today's your day then like the man in the story simply give your yes and faith to jesus your sins will be forgiven you'll be restored to relationship with god your eyes will be opened and you will know that god has granted you even as his word is true the free gift of forever life so that was the condition of the man in the story he was blind physically blind which is a powerful picture in scripture of spiritual blindness or not knowing the lord jesus christ and being separated from god as a result note secondly then the cry of bartimaeus the cry of bartimaeus verse 36 when he heard the crowd going by he couldn't see it obviously but he heard the commotion when he heard the crowd going by he asked what was happening they told him jesus of nazareth is passing by he called out jesus son of david have mercy on me when bartimaeus hearing that the rabbi from nazareth jesus was passing by when he heard that he immediately called out what jesus son of david have mercy on me that phrase son of david powerfully messianic that would have been a really unique thing in that moment for bartimaeus to confess somewhere along the line he'd come to the understanding in his heart that this teacher from nazareth wasn't just another guy he wasn't just a teacher he was the one of whom the prophets foretold he was the promised messiah deliverer and the one who would come into this world to set his people free bartimaeus was convinced that jesus was the promised one the holy one god incarnate god with skin in his face and so he cried out jesus son of david messiah have mercy on me maybe bartimaeus had heard stories of how the lord jesus christ had ministered to people setting them free spiritually pouring out miraculous works of healing upon their lives giving sight to other blind people maybe bartimaeus had heard about that day in which jesus of nazareth stepped into the synagogue in his hometown and read the words from the prophet isaiah that are recorded in luke 4 18 19. and those words are these the spirit of the lord is on me because he's anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor he has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind to set the oppressed free to proclaim the year of the lord's favor and of course on that day in the synagogue in which jesus read those words of the prophet isaiah he told everybody and said in this very moment in me the words of the prophet are fulfilled before you perhaps bartimaeus was aware of that moment in which jesus declared that he was the promised messiah whatever the case was he knew some things he knew that he didn't have his sight he knew that jesus was the messiah he was coming down the road and this king could give sight to the blind and so he cried out jesus son of david and then what was the second part of his cry have mercy on me have mercy on me grace and i were talking about a road trip that we went on with our kids some years ago and i grew up in southern alberta in lethbridge so lots of times for day trips growing up we would go to waterton national park for a day trip so we were going to go tenting with our guys at waterton lakes national park and i was kind of excited to take them where i'd been in my growing up years now if you've been there as you're traveling south from fort mcleod towards cardston just north of cardston there's a fork in the road and you got to take the sweeping right-hand turn and that breaks you west to go to waterton if you miss the turn to go straight you're driving down main street cardstone which is a little town 3 500 people the main street the entire thing is eight blocks long so we're driving and i missed the turn and i immediately knew it i immediately knew i'd missed the turn so at the very next intersection one block into the booming metropolis that's cardston i flipped a u-turn at the intersection as i'm flipping the u-turn a few blocks down main street guess what i see i see an rcmp cruiser and a bunch of thoughts are going through my head all the same time i'm thinking oh man did he see me and if he saw me is he going to care and then this was not my finest hour i openly admit this my next thought was i got to get out of here quick because if i turn around and kind of zip it up there and then turn left and head west to waterton lakes if he is coming after me he's at least gonna have to make a choice whether i went straight or turned again it wasn't my finest hour but it's exactly what i did and it was what was going on up here so i was kind of sort of i thought at that point trying to get away in the rcmp apologies i made the turn west and in my rearview mirror i watched the police officer now and the lights on the car are on and he's bombing north and i'm thinking great he went the wrong way only about a half a minute later he started going the right way and he obviously made the loop and came up behind me here's the thing about that road going west from cardston to waterton there's no shoulder it's a skinny little road i'm thinking to myself like i don't even know how i can stop i can't stop in the middle of the road can you so in my brain i mean this was not at this point this was my honest thinking i just thought i'm just going to go to the nearest approach or a driver or something and i can safely turn in there he was not impressed with that because he followed me for a while with the lights on now the siren came on my guys were thinking oh my goodness this is awesome we're on holidays and police lights and sirens i was less enthused so about that time i slammed on the brakes okay i stopped right there in the middle of the road now when that police officer came out to my window he was not in a good mood and he gave me a look that said okay i know that you kinda sorta tried to get away on me and he dressed me down he uh kind of worked me over verbally for a minute there and then at the end of the conversation he said but getting a ticket while you're on vacation is a really lousy thing to have happened right felt like a rhetorical question i said right and he said so smart not use your head and i'm going to give you a warning now justice in that moment wow i don't even know what that would have been probably fairly expensive at the least but he gave me mercy are we not grateful that ours is a god of mercy paul says in philippi in ephesians chapter 1 and verse 4 that our god is rich in mercy his mercies are new every day i mean we're sitting here together or we're connecting online we woke up from a night's rest god's mercies are new this morning amen we celebrate the mercy of god and we openly confess that if it was up to any one of us to deal with our spiritual blindness and figure out our way to heaven we would never ever get there but king jesus is enriching mercy and the moment that the blind sinner entrusts hers or his life to him our blinders are removed our sight is restored and we belong to the king forever you who are watching online are in the room if you've not experienced jesus in this way and not a few of us have the beauty of the grace of god is you can have that moment with jesus this very day well that's the cry of bartimaeus now i want you to see the confidence of bartimaeus i love this verse 39. those who led the way who do you suppose was leading the way with jesus those were his closest disciples there at the front of the pack those who led the way rebuked him and told him to be quiet but he shouted all the more son of david have mercy on me jesus stopped and ordered the man to be brought to him when he came near jesus asked him what do you want me to do for you lord i want to see he replied so picture this there's the blind man beside the road understanding that jesus of nazareth is passing by and he's calling out jesus son of david messiah have mercy on me you're the one who can restore my sight and meanwhile the disciples of jesus did what they went over to that guy and said shut up can't you see jesus is busy this is not a scheduled stop we're on our way to jerusalem put a lid on it do you remember what we said earlier that the blind man is arguably the least blind person in this passage of scripture what a stunning moment for those disciples but in response to their trying to get bartimaeus to shut out what did he do the word of god says he shouted all the louder it's a different word shouted than the previous word called out the word shouted out means that he shouted can you imagine that was kind of an awkward moment i bet but he would not relent and then two awesome words verse 40 says what jesus stopped at this point i think that the disciples heads were close to exploding they were having a hard time figuring out what was going on here but then jesus to that confusing moment for them did this the word of god says he commanded that bartimaeus be brought to him the word command it's a military word it's like a commanding officer speaking to his charges and a commanding officer's verbal directive is to be obeyed implicitly this is not to be debated he commanded some of those same disciples to bring bartimaeus to him oh my goodness do you think they were having a sheepish moment i'm going to guess so and at the same time their heads were spinning and they were trying to figure this all out but jesus he knew what he was going to do he knew that he was going to give this man sight but he wanted to connect the miracle to the mission and what's the mission from the heart of the lord jesus friends people are not the problem people are not an impediment people aren't something that we got to work our way around people are the mission amen jesus came to give sight to the blind so they bring bartimaeus the disciples to the lord jesus for this one encounter that he would have with the living christ now here's a question that i pondered this week and i put it out there for all of us thinking of those disciples rebuking the guy who needed jesus help who's the person in our lives that we would rather rebuke than take to jesus who is that person for me who's that person for us and then the six million dollar question jesus looked at bartimaeus and he said what do you want me to do for you rhetorical question right i mean talk about sword having a keen way of expressing the obvious the guy is blind but what if in that moment what if in that moment bartimaeus who maybe hadn't had a decent meal for two or three days essentially went for a big mac what if he said that jesus i'd just like something to eat or what if he had said could you just spot me a few coins or oh my goodness my tunic and my sandals they're really worn out i could use a new wardrobe what have you done that only bartimaeus filled with faith being convinced that jesus was the promised messiah the one who could give sight to the blind the one who loved to pour his mercy on people he went all in in that moment in a crowd no less and he said jesus i want to be able to see last sunday pastor sherry in reading page from the book that she's reading asked a great question what if jesus actually meant what he said what if jesus actually meant the things that he said the things that he says to us in the word of god and with that in mind here's the thing our lord jesus who is filled with mercy still loves to stop when people call out to him and if he stops or when he stops let me say in my life in my circumstance if he were to ask us this morning what do you want me to do for you do you have an answer what would your answer be would it be lord jesus i need my spiritual sight or lord jesus i have a relationship that's marked by darkness would you bring incredible light to it lord jesus i'm wrestling with a personal affliction i need your healing hand upon my life if jesus were to ask you today what do you want me to do for you oh friends in faith in our king whose greatness the universe cannot contain in answer to that question as bartimaeus models for us don't set the bar low let's go all in in faith believing that our king is able all right one last thought and it's verses 42 and 43 and i want you to see the commitment of bartimaeus in response to bartimaeus faith-filled confession lord i want to see jesus said to him receive your sight your faith has healed you kaboom the guy's vision was restored and the first thing or the first person the blind man saw was jesus how cool is that verse 43 immediately he received a sight and followed jesus so this man in this moment and after this scriptural account bartimaeus fades from the pages of scripture it seems like this was his moment he met king jesus he had his physical sight restored and his spiritual eyes were opened and he followed the lord jesus praising god and when all the people saw what had happened the crowd was electrified and everybody praised the lord god now that bartimaeus had both his spiritual and his physical eyes restored and he's a part of that entourage that's moving down the road through jericho on the way to jerusalem could we imagine that just maybe along the way the people in the crowd or people standing beside the road or someone else in another village he said hey everybody that guy over there that's jesus the messiah he gave me my sight and he'll do the same thing for you doctor was an international worker a missionary serving half a world away and he was an ophthalmologist and so one day through an operation he was able to restore sight to a blind man the guy of course went off just ecstatic at the restoration of his vision and the doctor didn't hear from the fellow again until uh sometime later some days later there was a knock on his home and when the doctor opened the door here was this fellow that he'd done the eye surgery on and this time this guy had with him like a rope and he was holding the front of the rope and hanging onto the rope were 10 other blind people we who are followers of jesus by faith who've experienced the grace of god who've had our sight restored we get to and in fact we must join jesus on mission now to point others to jesus that they might experience the restoration of their sight in the way that we have as well make no mistake when we call out king jesus to the present he stops he hears and he stops and he saves and he heals this is our king he gives sight to the blind let's pray lord jesus just an incredible account that grabs our hearts and makes us think so many things we celebrate your supernatural healing power on the life of this man we celebrate that moment in his life where spiritual eyes were open and he really saw and was connected to jesus by faith thank you lord jesus that you are still at work in wonderful merciful grace-filled ways to give sight to the blind i'm thinking of that person or persons that's connected with us this morning and perhaps they've not experienced the freedom the liberty the restoration of spiritual sight that you bring to all who yield their lives to you in faith spirit living god in these moments would you just continue in your merciful work to reveal the beauty the glory of the lord jesus to such a one and then jesus i'm just thinking that question you ask what do you want me to do for you there's a lot of people connected to this time of worship this morning and that group of people father god reflects so many different needs you're still asking that question grant us faith to believe you we pray in jesus name amen at this time in our service we're going to take an opportunity to receive communion together for those in the room if you didn't grab your elements on the way in i'd encourage you to go out those doors and there's two tables set up with elements provided on them for those joining us online please make sure that you have your elements ready at home and in a few moments we will partake together this summer we spent time journeying on different biblical roads the most impactful road trip ever was the road to the cross our lord and savior lived on earth with the purpose of taking that journey of walking to the cross to be the sacrificial lamb of all of humanity max lucado says jesus died on purpose no surprise no hesitation no faltering you can tell a lot about a person by the way he dies and the way jesus marched to his death leaves no doubt he'd come to earth for this moment peter preaching in acts 2 says this in verse 23 jesus was given to you and with the help of those who don't know the law you put him to death by nailing him to a cross but this was god's plan which he had made long ago he knew all this would happen see the journey of the cross didn't begin in jericho it didn't begin in galilee it didn't begin in nazareth and it didn't even begin in bethlehem the journey to the cross began long before as the echo of the crunching of the fruit was still sounding in the garden jesus was on his way to calvary the journey to the cross is a journey of love he willingly took that journey our lord and savior paid the price for our sin the journey of the cross allows us to be restored to god for all who accept his work on the cross the journey to the cross changed my life and i pray it changed yours as well as we come to the table let's use these next few moments to ask the spirit of god to search our hearts to point out anything that would not be in line with what he'd have for us and then in faith repent accepting his work on the cross once again repenting of our sin and committing to to following jesus each and every day and then we'll celebrate together remembering the road trip that jesus took paying the price for our sins so that we can experience relationship with god first corinthians 11 starting in verse 23 says this on the nights when he was betrayed the lord jesus took some bread and gave thanks to god for it then he broke it in pieces and said this is my body which is given for you do this to remember me and in the same way he took the cup of wine after supper saying this cup is the new covenant between god and his people an agreement confirmed with my blood do this to remember me as often as you drink it for every time you eat this bread and drink this cup you're announcing the lord's death until he comes again let us pray for the elements and then we'll partake together father god we thank you for the gift of your son we thank you that jesus came was born into this world and paid the price so that we can be forgiven and experience a relationship with god father i pray that today you will remind us of the journey that you took on our behalf and that you'll personalize it for it for us and that we will realize in maybe new ways and maybe fresh ways that you died on the cross for our sins that you died so that we can be forgiven you died so that we can experience the fullness of life and that you died so that we can take the life-changing message of jesus to those that you place in our lives father god today i pray that you'll point out anything that is not in line with what you have for us that we will repent accepting your work once again we thank you that the cross is big enough to pay the price for all of our sins for whatever we may have done or whatever we may do father we may we live in the repentant state giving praise and glory to you each and every day we thank you that on our behalf your body was broken and your blood was shed so that we can be forgiven we thank you that you rose again conquering death paying the price for our sin as the sacrificial lamb of god father minister to our hearts in jesus name we pray amen let us partake of both the bread and the cup today it's the body broken and the blood shed for each and every one of us let's partake together as is our custom on communion sundays we receive a benevolent offering for those in the room there's new offering plates put out at the back if you haven't dropped off your tithe and you still need to do that just make sure you use an envelope all loose change will be given to our benevolent fund if you're joining us online you can give a number of ways again through our website hhachurch.com give or through the e-transfer using the email address giving at hhurch.com and market for benevolence it's an opportunity for us to be the hands feet and voice to those within our faith community as well as in the communities that surround us and we're grateful for your generosity to this fund it's used quite regularly and it's an opportunity for us to come alongside those that are finding the season a little bit hard as a reminder for us all next sunday we go to two services 9 15 and 11 our 9 15 service will have nursery through grade 4 with youth starting at 9 00 and our 11 o'clock service will have nursery through grade 6 and it's an opportunity for us to gather following our 11 a.m service our harvest hawaiian hoopla we'd encourage you to bring your lawn chair and stay for that it'll be a great chance to connect with each other and then the following saturday the 17th 18th i'm sorry again the 18th we will be having our harvest carnival and an opportunity to serve our community that way we'd love to have you sign up to volunteer for that see pastor diane in the foyer and she can give you some more information how you can be involved now these are words from romans chapter 15 i pray the god the god of source of hope will fill you completely with joy and peace because you trust in him then you will overflow with a confident hope through the power of the holy spirit may god bless you as you go into the remainder of your day if you'd like prayer our prayer team will be at the front if you're online you can email us at help hhachurch.com we can set up a prayer time for you that way may god bless you as you go into the week to be the hands feet and voice of jesus you

Channel: Harvest Hills Alliance Church

Views: 192

Rating: 5 out of 5

Keywords: HHAC, Harvest Hills Alliance, Harvest Hills Alliance Church, sermon, message, prayer, Coventry hills, Country Hills, Harvest Hills, Panorama Hills, Church, Hidden Valley, Evanston, Sage Hill, Beddington, Center Street, friends, others, Sermon, Jesus, Prodigal, Prodigal son, journey, journey home

Id: 8gnIlSFFwsM

Length: 85min 56sec (5156 seconds)

Published: Sun Sep 05 2021