July 27, 2003 - Lesson: Matthew 8.23-27

Sermon Title: Stand by Me!

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INTRODUCTION:

  1. Its an old song written by Charles A. Tindley, Stand By Me.

Stand By Me (1)
Words and Music: Charles A. Tindley, 1905

When the storms of life are raging,
Stand by me (stand by me);
When the storms of life are raging,
Stand by me (stand by me);
When the world is tossing me
Like a ship upon the sea
Thou Who rulest wind and water,
Stand by me (stand by me).

In the midst of tribulation,
Stand by me (stand by me);
In the midst of tribulation,
Stand by me (stand by me);
When the hosts of hell assail,
And my strength begins to fail,
Thou Who never lost a battle,
Stand by me (stand by me).

In the midst of faults and failures,
Stand by me (stand by me);
In the midst of faults and failures,
Stand by me (stand by me);
When I do the best I can,
And my friends misunderstand,
Thou Who knowest all about me,
Stand by me (stand by me).

In the midst of persecution,
Stand by me (stand by me);
In the midst of persecution,
Stand by me (stand by me);
When my foes in battle array
Undertake to stop my way,
Thou Who saved Paul and Silas,
Stand by me (stand by me).

When I'm growing old and feeble,
Stand by me (stand by me);
When I'm growing old and feeble,
Stand by me (stand by me);
When my life becomes a burden,
And I'm nearing chilly Jordan,
O Thou "Lily of the Valley,"
Stand by me (stand by me).

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MAIN BODY:

  1. When the STORMS OF LIFE are raging

    1. J. Walter Cross, "Under No Delusions," Bradenton, Florida, writes: "It's a jungle out there!" Just ask Jay Rathman.

"He was hiking in one of the wilderness areas near his northern California home. Passing along a rocky ledge, he sensed a movement beside his face. A timber rattlesnake struck, just missing his right ear. Its fangs got snagged in the wool of Rathman's turtleneck sweater, pulling the snake onto his shoulders. He grabbed it just behind the head with his left hand, as they both tumbled down the slope through the brush and rocks. In this eyeball-to-eyeball encounter, he discovered that snakes don't blink. In about 20 minutes, he was able to throttle the reptile. Later, passing through the checkout gate, Rathman said to Warden Smith, "I'd like to register a complaint about your wildlife here."

      1. Cross continues

      2. "Reading that hair-raising account reminds us how closely it resembles life on a daily basis.

      3. "At the most unsuspecting moment, something strikes at us. We are knocked off balance by the assault....

        1. "Who hasn't been tumbled head over heels by demands and deadlines?

        2. "Who hasn't done battle with poisonous irritations on the slopes of over-commitment, underachievement and burnout?

        3. "Who hasn't had to fend off surprise attacks from criticism that strike at us like hungry predators and rip into us like needle-sharp claws?

        4. "They are frequent and varied: physical pain, emotional trauma, relational stress, spiritual doubts, marital conflicts, occupational disappointments, financial reversals...demonic assaults.

    1. This well-describes the story of Jesus, the disciples and a storm.

      1. Review the text.

"And when he got into the boat, his disciples followed him. A windstorm arose on the sea, so great that the boat was being swamped by the waves; but he was asleep. And they went and woke him up, saying, 'Lord, save us! We are perishing!' And he said to them, 'Why are you afraid, you of little faith?' Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the sea; and there was a dead calm. They were amazed, saying, 'What sort of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey him?'" (Matthew 8:23-27, NRSVA).

        1. It was a storm.

        2. The disciples are afraid.

        3. They wake up Jesus and cry for help.

        4. He ask them why there are afraid and calms wind and wave.

        5. They are amazed.

        6. What sort of man is this?

      1. Jesus stood by them.

      2. He will stand by us.

  1. In the midst of TRIBULATION (trouble or affliction of any kind)

    1. You may not know the name of Charles Lubin, but you will know the product that he created. (2)

"Charles Lubin enjoyed both eating and making cheesecake. He was pretty good at both. So good that he decided to open a cheesecake store, which he did on the north side of Chicago.

It flourished and so he opened a second store in South Chicago. That store did not do so well and eventually he lost both stores as a result.

Discouraged, he sat in his room one night and while eating his cheesecake, thought "This is pretty good cheesecake!" So he tried again and opened his original store again. Soon, he opened another store, but it failed and he once again lost both stores.

Less than a year later, while eating his cheesecake he said to himself "This is pretty darn good cheesecake!" So he opened his original store--again! But after opening a second store, he went bankrupt.

He tried and failed to open cheesecake stores a fourth time.

Then he had an idea. He made great cheesecake, and he wanted to open another store, but this time he decided to name his cheesecakes after his daughter, Sara Lee. It became the largest bakery in the world.

    1. Remember the song.

In the midst of tribulation,
Stand by me (stand by me);
In the midst of tribulation,
Stand by me (stand by me);
When the hosts of hell assail,
And my strength begins to fail,
Thou Who never lost a battle,
Stand by me (stand by me).

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  1. In the midst of FAULTS AND FAILURES

    1. Forgiveness: There are some people who would rather eat turnips than admit they were wrong.

    2. We all have faults.

      1. Some of them are glaring

      2. Some of them are subtle.

Herb Miller in Connecting With God: 14 Ways Churches Can Help People Grow Spiritually, writes about an embarrassing experience which occurred during a Rose Bowl Parade.

"During the Rose Bowl Parade in Pasadena, California, a few years ago, a float stalled. Frustration gradually increased because the floats behind it could not move ahead. Mechanics crawled under the flower-covered vehicle and tinkered with the motor. Nothing happened.

"Eventually, they discovered the problem: no gas. As someone went for fuel, the crowd realized that the float's sponsor was one of the major oil companies! (3)

    1. We all have our failures.

David McNally, 54, an Australian based in Minneapolis, is also in more demand than ever. (4)

His speeches, $5,000 each, lean heavily on a business failure: the 1970's rise and fall of his Sta-Power brand automobile gas-tank additive. "We were trying to be another STP, and we almost made it."

Mr. McNally tells audiences of his initial success in marketing Sta-Power. "I was a great salesman. I drove a Rolls-Royce and had a beautiful home. But I wasn't a great manager, and the business went into a decline that I couldn't stop. By the age of 28, I was flat broke and heavily in debt, which were goals I can't remember setting."

One of Mr. McNally's main points to audiences is that "failure in business or a career doesn't condemn you to failure. You have to see yourself separate from failures in your job. I wouldn't be a true failure unless I never took another risk in my life, if I went down and never got up"...

Mr. McNally says he switched to the speech about his failure and rebound a few years ago when he was offering seminars .... After he launched into a revealing biographical speech about his failure with Sta-Power, Mr. McNally says, "The feedback was extraordinary. People came up, grabbed my hand and said, 'Thank you.'"

He has since dropped the seminars altogether and just makes his speech.

    1. Remember the song.

In the midst of faults and failures,
Stand by me (stand by me);
In the midst of faults and failures,
Stand by me (stand by me);
When I do the best I can,
And my friends misunderstand,
Thou Who knowest all about me,
Stand by me (stand by me).

    1. He will stand by me and you!

    1.  

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  1. In the midst of PERSECUTION

    1. I was watching The Hour of Power, with Robert Schuller.

      1. He was interviewing Gracia Burnham.

Gracia Burnham (5)

New Tribe Missionaries, Martin and Gracia Burnham (GB) had been working in the Philippines since 1986. Martin was a pilot in the NTM aviation program there and Gracia assisted in a variety of roles. The Islamic terrorist group Abu Sayyaf kidnapped them along with other hotel guests on May 27, 2001, while celebrating their 18th wedding anniversary at Dos Palmas Resort off Palawan Island. During 376 days of captivity, the Burnhams endured incredible hardship and fear as they trekked through the jungle with their captors with limited food and supplies. Despite their ordeal and incredible fatigue, their faith never wavered. On June 27, 2002, as they were being rescued by the Philippine military, Martin was killed and Gracia was wounded by friendly fire. Gracia tells this amazing story of faith and endurance in her book, In the Presence of My Enemies. This interview with Robert H. Schuller took place at the Crystal Cathedral on Sunday, June 22, 2003.

Robert H Schuller: Wow. What was the worst time that you can remember?

Gracia Burnham: I think probably week ten. I gave God about six weeks to get us out of there, and when week ten rolled around I really started to struggle with my faith. I decided that God didn''t love me because if God loved me, I would be out of there. These feelings led to depression and crying all the time, and Martin came to me while I was down by the river one day, and he said, "It's so sad to see you giving up your faith." I said, "Hey, I'm not giving up my faith. I still believe there''s a God and that he sent His son Jesus to die for us. I''m just wondering if God loves me because I''m still here in this horrible situation." And Martin, said, "You now Gracia, it seems to me either you believe it all or you don't believe it at all." And that was just what I needed to hear and I decided I was going to believe what was true, whether I felt it in my heart at that time. I was going to believe that God loved me and it made a huge difference the rest of the year. Not that I didn't have my ups and my downs, but just making the decision that God loved me and He was there for me and He wasn't against me, made all the difference in the world.

    1. Persecution takes many forms and is exhibited in many ways.

    2. The writer of the song is black.

      1. Does he know persecution?

      2. Does he know persecution?

    3. Charles A. Tindley was Born: July 7, 1851, Berlin, Maryland. He Died: July 26, 1933, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

      1. Tindley is known as one of the "founding fathers of American Gospel music."

      2. The son of slaves, he taught himself to read and write at age 17.

      3. He was a driven young man, working as a janitor while attending night school, and earning his divinity degree through a correspondence course.

      4. In 1902, he became pastor of the Calvary Methodist Episcopal Church in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the church where he had earlier been the janitor.

      5. Tindley's "I'll Overcome Some Day" was the basis for the American civil rights anthem "We Shall Overcome," popularized in the 1960's."

    4. Remember the words of the song.

In the midst of persecution,
Stand by me (stand by me);
In the midst of persecution,
Stand by me (stand by me);
When my foes in battle array
Undertake to stop my way,
Thou Who saved Paul and Silas,
Stand by me (stand by me).

    1. He will stand by you!

  1. When I'm GROWING OLD AND FEEBLE

    1. At my age, every doctor says the same thing. It's either something I have to live with ... or something I have to live without.

    2. "By the time a man finds greener pastures, he also finds he can't climb the fence" (Irv Scheel).

    3. The most famous set of humorous negative images is the one that defined elderescence as when

      1. the gleam in your eye is from the sun hitting your bi-focals.

      2. your "little black book" contains only names ending in "M.D."

      3. you get winded playing chess.

      4. your children start to look middle-aged.

      5. you sit in a rocking chair, but you can't get it going.

      6. your knees buckle, but your belt won't.

      7. dialing long distance wears you out.

      8. you burn the midnight oil at 9 P.M.

      9. the little gray-haired woman you help across the street is your wife.

      10. an attractive member of the opposite sex goes by, and your pacemaker makes the garage door go up.

      11. That's humor of a negative kind.

    4. Here is some information of a positive kind.

      1. Sam H. Moffett, "There Is No Cheap Hope," tells the following story (6)

There is a dear old saint, incurably ill, who was visited by a younger friend. "You are suffering very much, I am afraid," said the younger woman, trying to be helpful.

"Yes," said the older woman, "but look." She held out her hands. "There are no nails there. He had the nails; I have the hope." She pointed to her head. "There are no thorns there. He had the thorns; I have the hope."

      1. Remember the song!

When I'm growing old and feeble,
Stand by me (stand by me);
When I'm growing old and feeble,
Stand by me (stand by me);
When my life becomes a burden,
And I'm nearing chilly Jordan,
O Thou "Lily of the Valley,"
Stand by me (stand by me).

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CONCLUSION

  1. Remember the song!

  2. Remember the text!

  3. Here is a story to take home with you.

    1. David McCasland in Glen Martin's book, Beyond the Rat Race tells about a woman whose car was stalled at an intersection: (7)

The car's hood was up, and the woman flagged down McCasland to help. I can't get it started, she said, but if you jiggle the wire on the battery, I think it will work. McCasland grabbed the positive battery cable and it came off in his hand. The cable was definitely too loose. The terminal needs to be tightened up, he told her. I can fix it if you have some tools. My husband says to just jiggle the wire, she replied. It always works. Why don't you just try that? McCasland paused for a moment, sarcastically wondering to himself why her husband didn't ride around town with her so he would be available when the wire needed jiggling. Finally he said, Madam, if I jiggle the wire, you're going to need someone else to do it every time you shut the engine off. If you'll give me two minutes and a wrench, we can solve the problem and you can forget about it. Reluctantly, she fumbled under the front seat and then extended a crescent wrench through the window of the old car. As he tightened the battery terminal, it occurred to McCasland how many times he had tried, in his own life, to get a quick fix from God. I have this problem, Lord, and if you'll just jiggle the wire, things will be OK. I'm in a hurry, so let's just get me going again the quickest way possible.

    1. So he concludes:

"But God doesn't want to jiggle wires, does he? He wants to take the time necessary to deal with our real problem and fix it. To get the long-term solution to the pressing needs in our lives requires a complete surrender to God and a willingness to proceed on his terms. We must cooperate with him in whatever it takes, for as long as it takes.

"As the lady drove away with her tightened terminal, McCasland stopped for a moment and asked the Lord to say No! the next time he asks God to just jiggle a wire."

1. http://www.cyberhymnal.org/htm/s/t/standbym.htm

2. --Source unknown.

3. -Herb Miller, Connecting With God: 14 Ways Churches Can Help People Grow Spiritually (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1995), 67.

4. --Robert Johnson, "For motivational speakers, nothing succeeds like failure," The Wall Street Journal, January 16, 2001, B2.

5. Retrieved from http://www.hourofpower.org/interviews/gracia_burnham.html

6. -Sam H. Moffett, "There Is No Cheap Hope," Reformed World, 36 (1980), 29.

7. -Glen Martin, Beyond the Rat Race (Nashville: Broadman & Holman, 1995), 156.

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