“If we are to be followers of Jesus should seek the Lord and be serious about it. We have to be committed to Him and only with Him will we overcome.” This sermon titled “Is Your Future Going to be Good?” was delivered by Steven Warwick on Sunday 23rd July 2023.
Sermon Transcript
Is your future going to be good?
Good morning, Church, and hello to all watching online, once again I am honored to be delivering today’s message.
It is a privilege to once again stand up in front of you all and for you to listen to me as I share what God wants us to hear this morning.
Before I pray, I have a question and I wonder how many of you have ever really thought about this question? To think about this question is one thing only to answer it well that is something else.
An answer to this question could mean that you are worried or scared, or you are confident in your ability, or it could mean that you know someone that many in this world do not believe or trust.
My question is this,
Is your future going to be good?
Let’s pray.
Last week Pastor Pamela spoke about the ride of life, the rollercoaster ride that we all have faced and if we are honest to ourselves, we will have a ride on that rollercoaster again.
Pastor Pamela also mentioned that in life we have a choice of either enduring and enjoying or jumping off the rollercoaster and well… We know what happens when people have jumped off the rollercoaster of life.
With that, my question to you this morning is,
Is your future going to be good?
That question is not simple and is layered I have a few points and hopefully, by the end, you have the information needed take to truly say that your life is going to be good.
We live in World I believe is the same as in the times of Noah and the great flood, where Humans and their evil desire to please their selfish desire is spiraling out of control, where we cannot watch our TV without the world shoveling their own beliefs into our minds and the minds our of children, Social media has always been toxic to a point to the lives of our children, now it is safer to walk through a minefield!
Our world’s economy is quite simply bankrupt! There isn’t one country in this world that isn’t in debt!
Criminal activity and the severity of it is beyond our imagination.
The effects of Mental health issues are scaring this world no one has any answers, people are filled with Anxiety, depression, and panic attacks are a daily occurrence, and people are filled with desperation, they look at this world and see no hope no future, more than ever.
We see this daily in the people that cross our lives.
It is sad…
Which lead’s me back to my question
Is your future going to be good?
We make think well I hope so…
Thinking about the points I have raised it is easy to think that! I hope my life is going to be good!
I admit at one stage in my life, and it wasn’t that long ago I use to say I hope so too…
Why do we say I hope so… is it because we do not have hope?
What if I say to you this morning that I have found the secret to you knowing that my life is going to be good?
Do you want to know my secret?
The problem with the secret is that it is simple, it hasn’t cost me a cent what I have is free…
Which confuses the world.
Let’s work through the points in revealing the secret of knowing that your life is going to be good!
- You have a choice!!!!
There is a verse in Revelation Chapter 3 verse 20 in the Message translation it says,
“Look at me. I stand at the door. I knock. If you hear me call and open the door, I’ll come right in and sit down to have supper with you.
What are looking at?
The problem?
Or Jesus?
Jesus is at the door, he is the one knocking, he is the one who came to the front door of our lives.
What choice do we have to make?
The problem that is confronting our lives is there, it didn’t knock it just forced its way into our lives!
What many of us have done, what I have done is not open the door to let Jesus in, we are consumed by the problem.
What happens if we open the door to let Jesus in?
He wants to sit down with us, to have supper to commune with him, for us to shift our focus off the problem, and to be with Him to be with Jesus.
Jesus wants us to hear him!
Sometimes in life, our problems can be so noisy, all they do is consume our thoughts our minds our health and steal our peace.
Jesus is knocking!
Are you listening?
What are you listening to?
The problem?
Or Jesus as he is knocking?
It is a simple Church.
It is our Choice, we all have one, and we can look at the problem and be consumed.
Or shift our Focus onto the Jesus that is knocking at our door and wants to come in and sit with us!
Wow!!! Jesus wants to be with us!
In a world where rejection is something we all feel and some are feeling it now, Jesus is at our front door wanting to come in and be with us.
Will you stop looking at the problem and open the door to let Jesus in?
It’s your choice!
I know that I need Jesus and to let Jesus in doesn’t mean you are weak, though if it is weak to the world, well that’s the weakness I am proud to admit.
It’s no secret what I need… I need Jesus, do you?
- Do not give up!
In Matthew Ch 8 v 23 to 27 Message version it reads,
23-25 Then he got in the boat, his disciples with him. The next thing they knew, they were in a severe storm. Waves were crashing into the boat—and he was sound asleep! They roused him, pleading, “Master, save us! We’re going down!”
26 Jesus reprimanded them. “Why are you such cowards, such faint hearts?” Then he stood up and told the wind to be silent, the sea to quiet down: “Silence!” The sea became smooth as glass.
27 The men rubbed their eyes, astonished. “What’s going on here? Wind and sea stand up and take notice at his command!”
I love this story; this story once again has been me! I identify with the Disciples!
Feeling out of control by the storms that hit, I am sure we all have felt the same.
We made the choice to open the door, to let Jesus in,
Jesus is in our lives we are feeling his Peace and then WHAM! Fiancé issues, sickness in the family the storm hits us from the East, West, North and South we feel swamped, we feel like we are drowning!
We cry out to Jesus!
Jesus Wake up!
Don’t you care Jesus!!! How many of us have said that?
Jesus, why aren’t you listening to me?
Then all of a sudden Jesus calms the storm, but we still don’t recognize that the storm is quieting because we want to feel angry, our feelings overcome us and emotions rule our decisions.
Then Jesus says stop
We slow down then look and see that the storm has passed us by.
As I age very slowly too! I can look back and see the times when I was filled with emotion and Jesus was working despite my stupidity and foolishness.
Jesus never stops working in the lives of those he loves!
When we look back after the storm, we all can see that Jesus was there even if we couldn’t see him then, Jesus was there.
No, matter what the storm is, once we have opened the door, Jesus, he will not leave.
It says in Deuteronomy 31 V 8
God is striding ahead of you. He’s right there with you. He won’t let you down; he won’t leave you. Don’t be intimidated. Don’t worry.”
What a wonderful promise from God, from our Father, from Jesus
Jesus is right there with us!
He won’t let us down!
He won’t leave us.
We need to stop worrying and being intimidated by whatever storm hits us, we may not understand what is happening to us, and the loss and grief can tear our lives apart, only Jesus is there loving us, never leaving us.
He is not just our Saviour, he is our Friend, he is our support structure, and he not only is there but he places people in our lives to support us and to remind us that it will be okay.
Point one we have a choice.
The second point do not give up.
- You cannot control the storm!
A while ago I decided to stop caring!
Yes, stop caring!
People look at me when I say that and go what!
Then I explain, I cannot control anything that happens to me, the only thing I can control is my reaction to the event, to the storm.
Negative people, and the enemy of our lives, and the world will say that you have control!
Why do we want to have control, when control is an illusion.
We have a choice, only the storms don’t ask our permission to start!
Remember storms hit us when we least expect it! From every direction.
There is only one that has control, there is only one who has our back!
And that is God that is Jesus.
Let’s look at the last scripture which is found in Jeremiah Ch 29 v 11 to 14
I know what I’m doing. I have it all planned out—plans to take care of you, not abandon you, plans to give you the future you hope for.
12 “When you call on me, when you come and pray to me, I’ll listen.
13-14 “When you come looking for me, you’ll find me.
“Yes, when you get serious about finding me and want it more than anything else, I’ll make sure you won’t be disappointed.” God’s Decree.
I have learned the more I try to control my life the more out of control it became.
So, I gave up!
And trust God and his word!
Why do we struggle and think that we have to fix everything when truly our lives are nothing without Jesus, he has given us a purpose and meaning, a hope that our lives will be of purpose and not a mistake.
Church if his word for us The Bible, is full of promises for us why do we not trust and let God do His work in our lives?
Our lives will never be complete unless we give up to him.
It is SIMPLE!
It is our Choice.
Church, we fight so hard to control the storm to control our lives!
The Bible says if we want to have a good future, we need to seek God and get serious about it!
Yes, we must show God that we love Him and want Him fully!
We have to make HIM our NUMBER ONE! Our priority, Our Focus instead of the storm.
Church in these last days this world is only going to decay and rot more.
I believe we should stand up against evil and try to make this world a safe place for our families.
Only this world has a time limit it isn’t going to get better, and very soon God is sending Jesus back again to bring home all that trust and call Him Lord.
While we are still here how do you want your days to be?
Do you want to be thrown around by the storm or do you want to find peace in the storm?
We do not know when the next storm is going to hit, only when we choose to let Jesus in and have him in our boat and let him have control, no storm will consume us again!
I started this message with a question for you, for those here and watching online.
Is your future going to be good?
I stand here and can truly say my life will be good because my trust is in Jesus, and no matter what happens to this body and my family I will trust him.
No matter what happens.
Will you?
Church, God is speaking to us, this is the second week in a row where God is speaking the same message.
Why?
Because of LOVE
Because of LOVE for YOU
Every day the Church is being shaken and every day our families worldwide our brothers and Sisters are going through storms.
As I said earlier, I believe we are in a time that we have never been in before.
This isn’t meant to scare us or frighten us, it is meant to excite us because we are going to be home very soon, spending eternity with the Creator with the Saviour.
This message is to equip us to make bold and strong and know that with Jesus in our lives, we do not need to worry about what happens to us Because Jesus does.
His Unconditional LOVE for us is beyond anything that we have experienced before and will ever feel.
Will you stop trying to control and trust God in the storm?
I don’t know what the future holds but I know who holds my future
Bad news on the TV, bad news on my phone
I got bad news all around me, yeah, it won’t leave me alone
So, ask me why I got this smile upon my face
Well, the good news is the bad news don’t get the final say
I don’t know what the future holds but I know who holds my future
I don’t know where the road may go but I know who makes a way
Ain’t no fire, ain’t no storm gonna steal my hallelujah
I don’t know what the future holds but with You the future looks good
Well, I don’t have all thе answers, ain’t much I’ve understood
But I know I sеrve a God who’s working all things for the good
So, when I need a soul reminder that You still do great things
I just look over my shoulder and see how far You’ve carried me
And I say
I don’t know what the future holds but I know who holds my future
I don’t know where the road may go but I know who makes a way
Ain’t no fire, ain’t no storm gonna steal my hallelujah
I don’t know what the future holds but with You the future looks good
I’m standing on the hope
That soon I’ll stand on streets of gold
I’ll hear the angels singing like the stories I’ve been told
I’m gonna see the face of Jesus and fall down at His feet
Singing “Holy, holy, holy” for all eternity
The future looks good
I finish as I started with the same question,
Is your future going to be good?
I truly hope that in Jesus’ name, you will put in place what has been preached over the last two weeks.
Jesus wants to be your ALL.
Your NUMBER ONE!
He doesn’t want you to face the next storm or this storm alone.
What is it going to take for you to open your life to him fully?
Just because you are a Christian doesn’t mean that you have let go of the control of your life!
Today is your day…
Will you make it yours?
Will your future be good?
Let’s pray….