Pastor Kirk McCormick: August 2021

Wednesday, August 25, 2021

Lessons from the Wilderness - Week 7

Lessons about How God Works

Numbers 27:12-23

“For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then we will see face to face.

Now I know only in part; then I will know fully, even as I have been fully known.”

1 Corinthians 13:12

As God works, He “A.C.T.S.”

** As God works, He “A”ppoints.

Numbers 27:18 - So the LORD said to Moses, “Take Joshua son of Nun, a man in whom is the spirit and lay your hand upon him”
Our Hang Up: Ego.
** Our Egos get involved in three ways...

1) Jealousy

2) Distortion

3) Distrust

Point: God never chooses the wrong person for his purposes.

** As God works, He “C”ommissions.

Numbers 27:19 - So the LORD said to Moses, “Have him [Joshua] stand before Eleazar the priest and the entire assembly and commission him in their presence.”
Point: God always confirms the appointments he makes.
Our Hang Up: Poor Listening ...which causes resistance to God’s will.
Application: When intimidated by God’s appointment remember...it’s a “co-mission” with God.

** As God works, He “T”eaches.

Numbers 27:21- God said about Joshua, “He is to stand before Eleazar the priest, who will obtain decisions for him by inquiring of the Urim before the LORD.”
Jesus said, “When he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth.” - John 16:13
Our Hang Up: Ignorance.
Application Question: What training exercises am I involved in?

** As God works, He “S”ends.

Numbers 27:21b - God said about Joshua – “At his command he (Joshua) and the entire community of the Israelites will go out, and at his command they will come in.”

Note: God does not appoint, commission and train us so we can sit at home.

Matthew 28:18-20 – Jesus said -

“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

1 Command: “Make Disciples”
1 Strategy: Baptize and Teach
1 Insight: “Behold” = pay attention

Our Hang Up: Doubt.
James 1:6 – “...he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.”

Kirk McCormick · Lessons about How God Works

Friday, August 20, 2021

Lessons from the Wilderness - Week 6

Lessons about Self-Control

Numbers 20:1-13

“We are not masters of our own feeling,

but we are by God’s grace masters of our consent.”

- Francois Fenelon

17th/18th Century Catholic Archbishop

I. Common Substitutes for Self-Control

Substitute 1 - Rebellion.

Numbers 20:2 – “There was no water for the people to drink at that place, so they rebelled against Moses and Aaron.” (NLT)
Point: Anarchy does not honor God...nor does it prove power.

Substitute 2 - Compromise.

Numbers 20:8, 11 – God said to Moses, “Command the rock before their eyes to yield its water.” Then Moses lifted up his hand and struck the rock twice with his staff.
Point: Half-truth is really no truth.

Substitute 3 - Rage.

Numbers 20:10 – “Listen, you rebels, shall we bring water for you out of this rock?” Ephesians 4:26 – “In your anger do not sin.”
Point: God is rarely glorified in our uncontrolled anger.
Benjamin Franklin - “Whatever is begun in anger ends in shame.”

Substitute 4 - Faithlessness.

Numbers 20:12 – But the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not trust me enough to demonstrate my holiness to the people of Israel, you will not lead them into the land I am giving them!”
Point: A lack of self-control has its consequences...for us and others.

II. Lessons about Self-Control

Lesson #1 – Self-control protects our spirits.

Frederick Buechner – “If you do not face up to the enemy in all his dark power, then the enemy will come up from behind some dark day and destroy you while you are facing the other way.”
Proverbs 25:28 – “A person without self-control is as defenseless as a city with broken-down walls.” (NLT)
1 Peter 5:8 – “Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.” (NIV)
Point: Self-control demonstrates our “Yes” to God’s purposes.

Lesson #2 – Self-control reduces faithlessness.

Quote: Someone once said, “If you don’t live it, you don’t believe it.”
2 Peter 1:6 – “Knowing God leads to self-control. Self-control leads to patient endurance, and patient endurance leads to godliness.” (NLT)
Point: Self-control is part of our contribution to a healthy, whole spiritual life.
John Eldredge - “This is where your strength is revealed and even increased – through exercise. Stand on what is true and do not let go. Period.”

Lesson #3 – In self-control, we experience the glory of God.

1 Corinthians 9:25 – “All athletes practice strict self-control. They do it to win a prize that will fade away, but we do it for an eternal prize.” (NLT)

Point: Self-control is part of the prize of salvation we receive from God.

Kirk McCormick · Lessons about Self Control

Lessons from the Wilderness - Week 5

“Lessons about Leadership”

Exodus 18

I. Leadership Traps

Trap #1 – An overly inflated sense of self-importance.

Exodus 18:14 – “When Moses’ father-in-law saw all that he was doing for the people, he said, ‘What is this that you are doing for the people? Why do you sit alone...’”
Point: Leaders do well to remember that Leadership is a group activity.
Andrew Carnegie – “No Man will make a great leader who wants to do it all himself, or to get all the credit for doing it.”

Trap #2 – Poor use of available resources.

Exodus 18:14 – “When Moses’ father-in-law saw all that he was doing for the people, he said, ‘What is this that you are doing for the people? Why do you sit alone, while all the people stand around you from morning until evening?’”
Point: Have you ever noticed that Leaders usually fail with unspent “capital” at their disposal?

Trap #3 – Enslavement to the immediate.

Exodus 18:15-16 – “Moses said to his father-in-law, ‘Because the people come to me to inquire of God. When they have a dispute, they come to me and I decide between one person and another, and I make known to them the statutes and instructions of God.’”
Point: Excuses for poor leadership are just that...Excuses.

Trap #4 – Unrestricted acceptance of responsibilities when workload increases.

Exodus 18:17-18 – “Moses’ father-in-law said to him, ‘What you are doing is not good. You will surely wear yourself out, both you and these people with you. For the task is too heavy for you; you cannot do it alone.’”
Point: Overworking is not a sign of competence.

II. Lessons About Effective Leadership

Lesson #1 – Train others in sound principles.

Exodus 18:19 – Jethro said to Moses, “You should represent the people before God, and you should bring their cases before God; teach them the statutes and instructions and make known to them the way they are to go and the things they are to do.”
Point: Effective leaders replicate through mentoring.

Lesson #2 – Be alert to the potential of others.

Exodus 18:21 – “You should also look for able men among all the people, men who fear God, are trustworthy, and hate dishonest gain; set such men over them as officers over thousands, hundreds, fifties and tens.
Point: Effective leaders see another’s potential before they see it.

Lesson #3 – Refuse to do too much.

Exodus 18:22 – “Let them sit as judges for the people at all times; let them bring every important case to you, but decide every minor case themselves. So it will be easier for you, and they will bear the burden with you.”
Note: Moses had forgotten a basic principle of Effective Leadership: Setting Boundaries. Point: Effective leaders know their calling and limits...then stick to them.

** Harry Truman on Leadership:

“I wonder how far Moses would have gone if he’d taken a poll in Egypt?

What would Jesus Christ have preached if he’d taken a poll in Israel?

Where would the Reformation have gone if Martin Luther had taken a poll?

It isn’t the polls or public opinion of the moment that count.

It is right and wrong and leadership that makes epochs in the history of the world.”

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Lessons from the Wilderness - Week 4

“Lessons about Meeting God”

Exodus 19

“Let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith.”

Hebrews 10:22

“Do not be afraid. God has come to test you, so that the fear of God will be with you to keep you from sinning.”

Exodus 20:20

I. Lessons about Meeting God

Lesson #1 – Meet God in a place where there are no distractions.

Exodus 19:3 – “Then Moses went up to God, and the LORD called to him from the mountain.”
Point: Sinai freed Moses to focus fully on God.

Lesson #2 – Listen with the purpose of obedience.

Exodus 19:5, 8 – The Lord told Moses to say, “Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession.” The people all responded together, “We will do everything the LORD has said.”
Point: God looks for a willing attitude, not a reluctant acquiescence when we meet with him.

Lesson #3 – God connects in specific ways.

Exodus 19:9-12 - The LORD said to Moses, “I am going to come to you in a dense cloud, so that the people will hear me speaking with you and will always put their trust in you.” Then Moses told the LORD what the people had said. 10 And the LORD said to Moses, “Go to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow. Have them wash their clothes 11 and be ready by the third day, because on that day the LORD will come down on Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people. 12 Put limits for the people around the mountain and tell them, ‘Be careful that you do not go up the mountain or touch the foot of it. Whoever touches the mountain shall surely be put to death.
Point: Do not pigeon hole God into your mode.

Lesson #4 - God expected, even demanded respect.

Exodus 19:20-24 - The LORD descended to the top of Mount Sinai and called Moses to the top of the mountain. So Moses went up 21 and the LORD said to him, “Go down and warn the people so they do not force their way through to see the LORD and many of them perish. 22 Even the priests, who approach the LORD, must consecrate themselves, or the LORD will break out against them.” 23 Moses said to the LORD, “The people cannot come up Mount Sinai, because you yourself warned us, ‘Put limits around the mountain and set it apart as holy.’” 24 The LORD replied, “Go down and bring Aaron up with you. But the priests and the people must not force their way through to come up to the LORD, or he will break out against them.”
The Idea: God sets the parameters of our meetings with him.
Matthew 7:21-23 – “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’ 23 Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’”
Point: God is not the Big Guy Upstairs ...he is the Almighty of Heaven who deserves and demands respect.

II. Application: God’s Conditions

Condition 1 – We meet with God ONLY through Jesus.

John 14:6 - Jesus said, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

Condition 2 – Honest Self-examination

1 Corinthians 11:27-28 – “Whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord. A person ought to examine himself before he eats of the bread and drinks of the cup.”

Condition 3 – Genuine Confession

1 John 1:9 – “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”

Condition 4 – Purposeful Recommitment

Romans 12:1 – “I urge you in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God - this is your spiritual act of worship.”

Condition 5 – Restored relationships

Matthew 5:23-24 – Jesus said, “If you are offering your gift at the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift.”

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Lessons from the Wilderness - Week 3

“Lessons about God’s Provision”

Exodus 16, 17

Six Lessons about God’s Provision

Lesson #1 – God knows your needs.

Exodus 16:1 – “This is what the LORD has commanded: ‘Each one is to gather as much as he needs. Take an omer for each person you have in your tent.’”
Point: No matter your wilderness need, God provides...
• God’s pardon is “Merciful” (Isaiah 55:7)• God’s love “passes human understanding” (Ephesians 3:19) • God’s gift of salvation is “Unspeakable” (2 Corinthians 9:15) • God’s provision in our lives “abundant” (John 10:10)
...OR...as Paul wrote to the church in Philippi - “My God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:19)

Lesson #2 – God often tests us before or after his provision.

Exodus 16:4 – “Then the LORD said to Moses, ‘I will rain down bread from heaven for you. The people are to go out each day and gather enough for that day. In this way I will test them and see whether they will follow my instructions.’”
Point: Sometimes God shows us where we are in our faith journey by withholding something that we think we deserve or need.
Chuck Swindoll wrote, “Our spiritual roots grow deep only when the winds around us are stronger.”
Point: Are you experiencing God’s provision? What lesson might he be trying to teach you?

Lesson #3 – When troubled, learn from the past rather than yearn it.

Proverbs 26:11 – “As a dog returns to its vomit, so a fool repeats his folly.”
Exodus 16:32 - Moses said, “This is what the LORD has commanded: ‘Take an omer of manna and keep it for the generations to come, so they can see the bread I gave you to eat in the desert when I brought you out of Egypt.’”
Point: You were created to live today.
Lauryn Hill - “We have an enemy who tries to convince us that there is something out there that is better than what God wants for us, but that's not true. Every day I remind myself that what God is providing is always the best thing for me.”

Lesson #4 - Contempt never works with God.

Exodus 17:2 – “The people quarreled with Moses, and said, ‘Give us water to drink.’ Moses said to them, ‘Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you test the LORD?”
Point: God responds to humility...not demands.

Lesson #5 – God can provide anything.

Exodus 17:15 – “Moses built an altar and called it The LORD is my Banner.”

“Banner” symbolized a people’s source of power or status...

Point: Moses claimed God as the Powerful One who provided Israel with every need .
Hudson Taylor said, “God’s work done in God’s way will never lack God’s supply.”

Lesson #6 – To enjoy a heavenly feast develop a heavenly appetite.

Psalm 37:4-5 - “Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the LORD; trust in him and he will do this.”
Point: God provides the desires of our hearts when those desires help fulfill his plans.

Kirk McCormick · Lessons about God's Provision

Lessons from the Wilderness - Week 2

“Lessons about Discontentment”

Numbers 11

“Not to get what you have set your heart on is almost as bad as

getting nothing at all.”

Aristotle (4th Century BC)

I. Understanding Discontentment

A. Discontentment begins with frustration...almost despair.

Numbers 11:10-12
10 Moses heard the people of every family wailing, each at the entrance to his tent. The LORD became exceedingly angry, and Moses was troubled. 11 He asked the LORD, “Why have you brought this trouble on your servant? What have I done to displease you that you put the burden of all these people on me? 12 Did I conceive all these people? Did I give them birth? Why do you tell me to carry them in my arms, as a nurse carries an infant, to the land you promised on oath to their forefathers?
Point: Discontentment blinds us from the truth.

B. Discontentment is exacerbated by stress.

Numbers 11:13-15 –
13 Where can I get meat for all these people? They keep wailing to me, ‘Give us meat to eat!’ 14 I cannot carry all these people by myself; the burden is too heavy for me. 15 If this is how you are going to treat me, put me to death right now – if I have found favor in your eyes – and do not let me face my own ruin.
Point: Physical or emotional exhaustion amplifies discontentment.

C. Discontentment allows self-pity to creep in.

Point: Rarely do guests enjoy a pity party...unlike the host.
Numbers 11:19-20 –
19 You will not eat it for just one day, or two days, or five, ten or twenty days, 20 but for a whole month – until it comes out of your nostrils and you loathe it – because you have rejected the LORD, who is among you, and have wailed before him, saying, “Why did we ever leave Egypt?’

D. Discontentment limits our faith in God.

Numbers 11:22-23 -
21 But Moses said, “Here I am among six hundred thousand men on foot, and you say, ‘I will give them meat to eat for a whole month!’ 22 Would they have enough if flocks and herds were slaughtered for them? Would they have enough if all the fish in the sea were caught for them?” 23 The LORD answered Moses, “Is the LORD’S arm too short? You will now see whether or not what I say will come true for you.”
Truth: God could have given them anything they wanted...but he gave them what they needed. Point: If God is unwilling to bless, there must be a good reason.

II. Learning the Lessons about Discontentment

Lesson #1 – Unique blessings often flow from stressful circumstances.

c.f.: Numbers 11:24-25
So Moses went out and told the people what the LORD had said. He brought together seventy of their elders and had them stand around the Tent. 25 Then the LORD came down in the cloud and spoke with him, and he took of the Spirit that was on him and put the Spirit on the seventy elders. When the Spirit rested on them, they prophesied, but they did not do so again.
Luke 12:50 – Jesus said, “I have a baptism with which to be baptized, and what stress I am under until it is completed!”
Oscar Wilde – “Discontent is the first step in the progress of a man or a nation.”
Point: The “good-old” times usually began as a “challenging-new time”.

Lesson #2 – We serve no small God.

Luke 18:27 – Jesus said, “What is impossible from a human perspective is possible with God.” (NLT)
Point: Our God is an awesome God for whom no task is impossible. Don’t shrink him!
Numbers 11:31-32
Now a wind went out from the LORD and drove quail in from the sea. It brought them down all around the camp to about three feet above the ground, as far as a day’s walk in any direction. 32 All that day and night and all the next day the people went out and gathered quail.