Pastor Cal Lord's Recent Sermons
"Prior Planning Is Gods Motto"
Mark 1:1-8 January 11, 2009
Several centuries ago, a Japanese emperor commissioned an artist to paint a picture of a bird. A
number of months passed, then several years, and still no painting was brought to the palace. Finally
the emperor became so exasperated that he went to the artist’s home to demand an explanation. But
instead of making excuses, the artist placed a blank canvas on the easel. In less than an hour, he
completed a painting that was to become a brilliant masterpiece. When the emperor asked the reason
for the delay, the artist showed him armloads of drawings that he had made of feathers, wings,
heads, and feet. Then he explained that all of this research and study, this preparation had been
necessary before he could complete the painting.
Life is all about preparation. This morning all of us prepared to come to church. We got dressed. I
know that because no one still has their pajamas on. We ate breakfast, cleaned off our cars, maybe
even shoveled the driveway. Why? So we could come to church.
In some ways we could look at everything we do as preparation for something else. No matter what
it is, we are preparing for something.
On Friday I went grocery shopping. Why? Because a storm was coming and I wanted to make sure
we had some food and snacks in the house in case we were there for the duration. I filled my gas
tank. Lori called for an oil delivery and I went to blockbuster to get a movie. That is just one day.
But we do this every day.
Now I want you to think about something for a minute. Do you regularly do any thing like this in
regards to your faith? We all expect that Jesus is going to come again one day. Do you do anything
in your daily walk to prepare for that moment?
I’m going to let you off the hook. Of course you do. That’s why you are here today. You are going
deeper in your faith and in your understanding of God and his plans. You may read your Bible or
take time to pray and walk with God for a few minutes every day. Why is this important? You are
going to spend an eternity with Jesus. You might want to get to know him a little bit better now.
Planning. Preparing. It is a part of life. It is a part of who we are. If you think about it, it only makes
sense because that is who God is as well. God is the author or planning and preparing. From the
beginning of time he has had his plan and even now it is being worked out.
Our text today illustrates this point. We meet John the Baptist. Here is this grizzled, almost
frightening man, dressed in a camel hair tunic, standing on the shores of the Jordan River, shouting
words of repentance and judgment. The scriptures say that his job is to prepare the way for the
Lord. He is like the snow plow that made it possible for you to come to church today. John is out
there talking about the judgment of God and he says that the deliverer, the messiah, the anointed one
of God is coming. He cries “Prepare your hearts. Clean out the sin in your lives. Come be baptized.”
Mark points out that this was all predicted by the prophet almost 800 years before. The scripture
says, "I will send my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way a voice of one calling in
the desert, 'Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him.'" In other words God had
mapped out the territory. He planned for this moment. God knew that he was going to give his one
and only son as a price for sin. God knew that he was going to send a prophet, John, to till the soil
and get people’s hearts ready to accept the Lord.
What’s more is this: John’s arrival came at a time when the people were ready and waiting. There
had been over 400 years between the last prophet of God, Malachi, and John’s arrival on the scene.
The faithful people were ready to hear the message, after all that time. You see God knew that the
time would be ripe. He planned it that way.
Planning has always been God’s m.o. In theological terms we say God is omniscient. That means
that God knows everything. Well this much is true. It says in the scriptures time after time that God
has set his plans in motion. He has prepared for one thing or another. He made all things beautiful in
his time. Even when it comes to Jesus, there are hundreds of prophesies that show that God has his
coming in the works for centuries of human time. That is how God works. He plans and prepares.
We see this even in Jesus. Jesus knew his time on earth was limited and he uses it to equip and
prepare his disciples for the work that they will do after he leaves. He teaches, he models, he
prophesies and he plans. For three years he works with his disciples so that they will be ready.
The truth is that God is doing the same thing today. He has been working in your life and mine,
preparing us to serve him. When you look back at the experiences you have had, the grace that has
touched your life, the people who have influenced your Christian walk, you can see the hand of God
in all of it.
I like to tell my story about coming back to church. Our family was torn apart and life was a mess.
My mother was gone, my little brother and I were on our own or shuffled in and out of baby sitters.
Yet, my father was encouraged by my aunt Connie, his sister-in-law, to bring us to church. That
saved my life and changed me forever. Some would say it was a coincidence. I say it is God and the
way he works things out. He knew he was going to call me into ministry and he put the plans in
motion to get me to church as a young boy. It was there I found the strength to carry through and
the faith that would undergird my life.
The scriptures are filled with stories like that. Think of Joseph and his being sold into slavery. Think
of Moses and his being raised in Pharaoh’s house. Think of David and his first encounters with the
king and the Philistines.
You can say the same thing about our life as a church family. We have gone through seasons of life
where we have grown and developed ministries based upon the gifts and talents of the people God
brought here. In the
However, I want you to look at how their preparation with Jesus allowed them to do what they did.
They ministered to the people, they enjoyed people, they fellowshipped with people, they gave to the
people. I would suspect that some of the believers did the preaching, others ran the soup kitchen,
some were people people and they welcomed the new believers into their mist. I bet there were
many that were the behind the scenes type of people during the early church, those that prayed for
the leaders, those that helped clean the temple courts, those that made all of the food. I don’t know
what it was that people did during that early church but the passage says no one was left out. It
says, “all of the believers were together.” Not some, not a few, but every single one of them were
together. And what did the Lord do to reward them? “And the Lord added to their number daily
those who were being saved.”
So what you may be asking. What does this have to do with preparation? What does this have to do
with me? Let me answer that by saying that I think preparation is the key to any ministry or church
surviving. If we see the Lord’s blessings in our life I am sure you can look back and see how
preparation lead to the blessing. For us as Christians it always should start with prayer.
How can we expect anything from our Lord if we don’t talk to him? The early church all had a
ministry. Everyone did something for the Kingdom, everyone. And the Lord brought great numbers
of believers into their presence. I think the same thing can happen today. Are we that different? Can’
t we all be used to prepare a way for the advancement of God’s kingdom? Can’t we be used in a
way that will help God work here on earth?
The good news is we already have the tools, we already have the money, we already have the
talents, we just have to use them. They exist already! We have to find them, we may have to develop
them, and then we have to use them for the glory of God! Folks the fields are ripe and ready for
harvesting!
The hunger is out there for something else, something meaningful, something true. The preparation
for our ministry here on earth has already been done.
And God has chosen you to help him do the work!
“Whoa, Cal,” you say, “I don’t know how to evangelize, I don’t know how to speak to a group of
people, I don’t know how to answer all of the biblical questions people may ask me, I don’t know
how to win people to Christ, that is just not me. You have the wrong person in mind.”
No, I don’t have you in mind, God has you in mind.
John the Baptist was not the picture perfect evangelist either. Look at him for a second. He wore
clothing made of camel’s hair. The passage we read earlier makes John out to be a pretty rough guy.
Not one you would expect to be behind the pulpit, not one you would expect to be preaching about
repentance. Not the one who would bring, “The whole Judean countryside and all the people of
Jerusalem” out to him.
And on top of that, he ate bugs! If God can use this man to prepare a way for Jesus to work he can
surely use you.
So what is God preparing you to do for his Kingdom?
You see friends; the Lord has already prepared the world for your ministry. The preparation has
already been done. The fields are ripe and ready for harvest. As missed up as the world seems to be
they are ready to hear the Good news of Jesus Christ. God has used your life, your experiences,
your talents, and your testimony all in preparation for your ministry for Him.
I don’t care if you accepted Christ when you were a child, or as a young adult, or even yesterday.
You have a story to tell, you all have talents, you all have experienced things that no one else on the
earth has experienced. Do you think for a moment all of that was on accident?
Do you want to know the best part of all this. God is allowing us to do the work! Sure he could
make people accept him, sure he could do all of the evangelizing himself. Sure he could send Jesus
back here for round two to do the work himself, but he isn’t. He isn’t coming to evangelize, He is
coming to collect those that we have evangelized. Instead, in the mean time He sent the Holy Spirit,
who works through all of us. We are the ones who get to do the work! Isn’t that good news?
And because we are the ones who get to do the work, God is allowing us to be the recipients of the
joy and blessing that come with it. You know if this church would see someone come to Christ it is
not me who can take the credit. It is not even the person who may have spoke to them right before
they accepted Christ into their lives. No, all of us can claim joy from the experience because all of
the believers prepared for that day! It doesn’t matter if you were the person doing the talking, it
doesn’t matter if you were the person doing the praying, it doesn’t matter if you were the person
vacuuming the carpet that day. If you have a ministry in this church you can share in the joy of
seeing the Lord add to our numbers.
We have come to a time in society where someone coming to the altar is a rare occurrence. Why? If
we all do our part then we should see our numbers added to every day. Why does it seem like this is
a first century phenomenon?
So what is your ministry? What has God called you to do? What can you do? What has God spent
your entire life preparing you for? What is it?
“For I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plan to give you
hope and a future.” Jeremiah 29:11
Do you think for a moment that our God will lead you down a road in ministry for the church that
he has not prepared you for? Do you think for a moment that He will not walk down that road hand
in hand with you? Do you think for a moment that God would send you a ministry, one that he has
prepared you for your entire life, only to make you fail?
Friends, today is your day! Today is the day to step forward and claim your ministry for Him! What
is the Lord your God calling you to do? What does he want you to do for Him?
Some of you have no idea what God is calling you to do yet. That’s OK. Let’s pray about it, let’s
prepare some more. I would love to sit down with you and see what you are good at. I would love
to be part of that discovery process with you. Come see me if you would like to take that journey. I
promise you it will be the best journey you have ever gone on before.
We are looking ahead at our annual meeting and trying to decide where God is leading. We need to
prepare our selves for a revival to happen.
Let’s open our hearts today. Let the Holy Spirit speak to you this morning. Let’s seek him with
everything we have. We are going to close with prayer and I will stick around after every one leaves
if you want to pray some more. Perhaps we will not discover where God is calling you today,
perhaps we will. But we can discover it together. We can come to God with open hearts and minds
and call upon him for help. If you want to stay and pray some more come down to the altar during
this prayer or afterwards and all of us who come will pray together.
Mark 1:1-8 January 11, 2009
Several centuries ago, a Japanese emperor commissioned an artist to paint a picture of a bird. A
number of months passed, then several years, and still no painting was brought to the palace. Finally
the emperor became so exasperated that he went to the artist’s home to demand an explanation. But
instead of making excuses, the artist placed a blank canvas on the easel. In less than an hour, he
completed a painting that was to become a brilliant masterpiece. When the emperor asked the reason
for the delay, the artist showed him armloads of drawings that he had made of feathers, wings,
heads, and feet. Then he explained that all of this research and study, this preparation had been
necessary before he could complete the painting.
Life is all about preparation. This morning all of us prepared to come to church. We got dressed. I
know that because no one still has their pajamas on. We ate breakfast, cleaned off our cars, maybe
even shoveled the driveway. Why? So we could come to church.
In some ways we could look at everything we do as preparation for something else. No matter what
it is, we are preparing for something.
On Friday I went grocery shopping. Why? Because a storm was coming and I wanted to make sure
we had some food and snacks in the house in case we were there for the duration. I filled my gas
tank. Lori called for an oil delivery and I went to blockbuster to get a movie. That is just one day.
But we do this every day.
Now I want you to think about something for a minute. Do you regularly do any thing like this in
regards to your faith? We all expect that Jesus is going to come again one day. Do you do anything
in your daily walk to prepare for that moment?
I’m going to let you off the hook. Of course you do. That’s why you are here today. You are going
deeper in your faith and in your understanding of God and his plans. You may read your Bible or
take time to pray and walk with God for a few minutes every day. Why is this important? You are
going to spend an eternity with Jesus. You might want to get to know him a little bit better now.
Planning. Preparing. It is a part of life. It is a part of who we are. If you think about it, it only makes
sense because that is who God is as well. God is the author or planning and preparing. From the
beginning of time he has had his plan and even now it is being worked out.
Our text today illustrates this point. We meet John the Baptist. Here is this grizzled, almost
frightening man, dressed in a camel hair tunic, standing on the shores of the Jordan River, shouting
words of repentance and judgment. The scriptures say that his job is to prepare the way for the
Lord. He is like the snow plow that made it possible for you to come to church today. John is out
there talking about the judgment of God and he says that the deliverer, the messiah, the anointed one
of God is coming. He cries “Prepare your hearts. Clean out the sin in your lives. Come be baptized.”
Mark points out that this was all predicted by the prophet almost 800 years before. The scripture
says, "I will send my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way a voice of one calling in
the desert, 'Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him.'" In other words God had
mapped out the territory. He planned for this moment. God knew that he was going to give his one
and only son as a price for sin. God knew that he was going to send a prophet, John, to till the soil
and get people’s hearts ready to accept the Lord.
What’s more is this: John’s arrival came at a time when the people were ready and waiting. There
had been over 400 years between the last prophet of God, Malachi, and John’s arrival on the scene.
The faithful people were ready to hear the message, after all that time. You see God knew that the
time would be ripe. He planned it that way.
Planning has always been God’s m.o. In theological terms we say God is omniscient. That means
that God knows everything. Well this much is true. It says in the scriptures time after time that God
has set his plans in motion. He has prepared for one thing or another. He made all things beautiful in
his time. Even when it comes to Jesus, there are hundreds of prophesies that show that God has his
coming in the works for centuries of human time. That is how God works. He plans and prepares.
We see this even in Jesus. Jesus knew his time on earth was limited and he uses it to equip and
prepare his disciples for the work that they will do after he leaves. He teaches, he models, he
prophesies and he plans. For three years he works with his disciples so that they will be ready.
The truth is that God is doing the same thing today. He has been working in your life and mine,
preparing us to serve him. When you look back at the experiences you have had, the grace that has
touched your life, the people who have influenced your Christian walk, you can see the hand of God
in all of it.
I like to tell my story about coming back to church. Our family was torn apart and life was a mess.
My mother was gone, my little brother and I were on our own or shuffled in and out of baby sitters.
Yet, my father was encouraged by my aunt Connie, his sister-in-law, to bring us to church. That
saved my life and changed me forever. Some would say it was a coincidence. I say it is God and the
way he works things out. He knew he was going to call me into ministry and he put the plans in
motion to get me to church as a young boy. It was there I found the strength to carry through and
the faith that would undergird my life.
The scriptures are filled with stories like that. Think of Joseph and his being sold into slavery. Think
of Moses and his being raised in Pharaoh’s house. Think of David and his first encounters with the
king and the Philistines.
You can say the same thing about our life as a church family. We have gone through seasons of life
where we have grown and developed ministries based upon the gifts and talents of the people God
brought here. In the
However, I want you to look at how their preparation with Jesus allowed them to do what they did.
They ministered to the people, they enjoyed people, they fellowshipped with people, they gave to the
people. I would suspect that some of the believers did the preaching, others ran the soup kitchen,
some were people people and they welcomed the new believers into their mist. I bet there were
many that were the behind the scenes type of people during the early church, those that prayed for
the leaders, those that helped clean the temple courts, those that made all of the food. I don’t know
what it was that people did during that early church but the passage says no one was left out. It
says, “all of the believers were together.” Not some, not a few, but every single one of them were
together. And what did the Lord do to reward them? “And the Lord added to their number daily
those who were being saved.”
So what you may be asking. What does this have to do with preparation? What does this have to do
with me? Let me answer that by saying that I think preparation is the key to any ministry or church
surviving. If we see the Lord’s blessings in our life I am sure you can look back and see how
preparation lead to the blessing. For us as Christians it always should start with prayer.
How can we expect anything from our Lord if we don’t talk to him? The early church all had a
ministry. Everyone did something for the Kingdom, everyone. And the Lord brought great numbers
of believers into their presence. I think the same thing can happen today. Are we that different? Can’
t we all be used to prepare a way for the advancement of God’s kingdom? Can’t we be used in a
way that will help God work here on earth?
The good news is we already have the tools, we already have the money, we already have the
talents, we just have to use them. They exist already! We have to find them, we may have to develop
them, and then we have to use them for the glory of God! Folks the fields are ripe and ready for
harvesting!
The hunger is out there for something else, something meaningful, something true. The preparation
for our ministry here on earth has already been done.
And God has chosen you to help him do the work!
“Whoa, Cal,” you say, “I don’t know how to evangelize, I don’t know how to speak to a group of
people, I don’t know how to answer all of the biblical questions people may ask me, I don’t know
how to win people to Christ, that is just not me. You have the wrong person in mind.”
No, I don’t have you in mind, God has you in mind.
John the Baptist was not the picture perfect evangelist either. Look at him for a second. He wore
clothing made of camel’s hair. The passage we read earlier makes John out to be a pretty rough guy.
Not one you would expect to be behind the pulpit, not one you would expect to be preaching about
repentance. Not the one who would bring, “The whole Judean countryside and all the people of
Jerusalem” out to him.
And on top of that, he ate bugs! If God can use this man to prepare a way for Jesus to work he can
surely use you.
So what is God preparing you to do for his Kingdom?
You see friends; the Lord has already prepared the world for your ministry. The preparation has
already been done. The fields are ripe and ready for harvest. As missed up as the world seems to be
they are ready to hear the Good news of Jesus Christ. God has used your life, your experiences,
your talents, and your testimony all in preparation for your ministry for Him.
I don’t care if you accepted Christ when you were a child, or as a young adult, or even yesterday.
You have a story to tell, you all have talents, you all have experienced things that no one else on the
earth has experienced. Do you think for a moment all of that was on accident?
Do you want to know the best part of all this. God is allowing us to do the work! Sure he could
make people accept him, sure he could do all of the evangelizing himself. Sure he could send Jesus
back here for round two to do the work himself, but he isn’t. He isn’t coming to evangelize, He is
coming to collect those that we have evangelized. Instead, in the mean time He sent the Holy Spirit,
who works through all of us. We are the ones who get to do the work! Isn’t that good news?
And because we are the ones who get to do the work, God is allowing us to be the recipients of the
joy and blessing that come with it. You know if this church would see someone come to Christ it is
not me who can take the credit. It is not even the person who may have spoke to them right before
they accepted Christ into their lives. No, all of us can claim joy from the experience because all of
the believers prepared for that day! It doesn’t matter if you were the person doing the talking, it
doesn’t matter if you were the person doing the praying, it doesn’t matter if you were the person
vacuuming the carpet that day. If you have a ministry in this church you can share in the joy of
seeing the Lord add to our numbers.
We have come to a time in society where someone coming to the altar is a rare occurrence. Why? If
we all do our part then we should see our numbers added to every day. Why does it seem like this is
a first century phenomenon?
So what is your ministry? What has God called you to do? What can you do? What has God spent
your entire life preparing you for? What is it?
“For I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plan to give you
hope and a future.” Jeremiah 29:11
Do you think for a moment that our God will lead you down a road in ministry for the church that
he has not prepared you for? Do you think for a moment that He will not walk down that road hand
in hand with you? Do you think for a moment that God would send you a ministry, one that he has
prepared you for your entire life, only to make you fail?
Friends, today is your day! Today is the day to step forward and claim your ministry for Him! What
is the Lord your God calling you to do? What does he want you to do for Him?
Some of you have no idea what God is calling you to do yet. That’s OK. Let’s pray about it, let’s
prepare some more. I would love to sit down with you and see what you are good at. I would love
to be part of that discovery process with you. Come see me if you would like to take that journey. I
promise you it will be the best journey you have ever gone on before.
We are looking ahead at our annual meeting and trying to decide where God is leading. We need to
prepare our selves for a revival to happen.
Let’s open our hearts today. Let the Holy Spirit speak to you this morning. Let’s seek him with
everything we have. We are going to close with prayer and I will stick around after every one leaves
if you want to pray some more. Perhaps we will not discover where God is calling you today,
perhaps we will. But we can discover it together. We can come to God with open hearts and minds
and call upon him for help. If you want to stay and pray some more come down to the altar during
this prayer or afterwards and all of us who come will pray together.
| Welcome to the First Baptist Church of Norwich 239 West Main Street Norwich, Connecticut Phone: 860-889-0369 |
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