all right it's time for children's worship so boys and girls if you want to come on down sit in these front front rows here usually we have the box so this morning come and sit down here one of these front two rows on this side or in the middle this morning i've been told we do not have the box so I have something else that I found under the pulpit. You all can come up here. Come up here. You can sit on this side. Right here, guys. You can sit there if you want. Come right over here. Come right here. Have a seat right here. All right? There you go. All right. Very good. Well, normally we have the box and then something is placed in there for us to learn about. We don't have the box, so this morning I looked underneath the pulpit and I found something else. It is a little story box. book. And so we're going to look at this storybook this morning. Who can read me the title of what it says in there? Can one of you all tell me what does that say? That's a big word. It's a funny word. The prodigal son. Prodigal is a word you don't hear all the time, but prodigal describes somebody who goes away and does something different than what his parents want him to do. Somebody who goes off goes away and does something different, who disobeys or doesn't follow what his parents told him to do. Now hopefully that would not be any of you guys. We're going to look just briefly this morning at this booklet and talk about the story of the prodigal son. This is a story that Jesus told in the Bible when he was trying to teach a group of people what God is like. And so I'm going to walk through this really briefly. It's not all the same words as what the Bible says, but it It kind of summarizes it in a way, kind of on your level. So I'm going to show you the pictures, and then I'm going to read it. It talks about a dad and his son, a man who had two sons. It says, a man had two sons. One day the younger son came to him and said, Father, I don't want to stay on the farm. I want my inheritance, or the money that I'm going to get someday, I want my inheritance so I can travel and start a new life. So he's going to take the father's money, and he's going to travel far away from his father. The next page here says, the younger son went off to see the world. He ate and drank like a king. He partied with his friends and didn't work. In no time, he had spent all of his money. Do you guys know what that's like to spend all of your money? Maybe you have money sometimes and you get to spend it and all of a sudden it's gone. Now this young man had spent all the money that he had gotten from his father. A great famine, or time when people didn't have food, came, and he got a job feeding, what is he feeding there? What is he feeding? Pigs. Ew, stinky, smelly pigs. The pigs ate better than he did. Now the boy says, even my father feeds his hired men, I will go home and ask him for a job. So he's going to go all the way back home to ask his father for a job. Now what the story doesn't show next is that the whole time he's going home, he's thinking of how he can ask to be his father's servant. Rather than his son. He thought my father won't let me back as his son. Maybe he'll take me back as his Servant, you know what happened when he got home Do you think his father made him be a servant and live in the servants quarters? What do you think happened? All right says here the father ran out to meet his boy hugged him he says will you let me be your hired man asked the son and He says, you are not my hired man, you are my son. We must celebrate now for you were lost and you are found. The father forgave the son and received him back as his son. It's a beautiful story that reminds us that we wander from God. We walk away from God. We disobey Him. We do what the Bible calls sin. When we break God's law, that separates us from God. And yet God is willing and ready to receive us when we come back to Him. When we realize that we have done wrong, our sin we can come to God we can repent and receive his forgiveness so that was a little book that was given to me to put under the pulpit to have something when the box doesn't show up so there we go who would like to take this book home one of you is going to take this book home with you today would you like to have that all right very good I am told the box will show up next week so thank you boys and girls you can go back to your seats at this time thank you very much I'd ask you to join me as we sing together a song about reaching out across the lands. You're the Word of God the Father from before the world began. Every star and every planet has been fashioned by your hand. Now your creation holds together by the power of your voice. Let the skies declare your glory. Let the lands and seas rejoice. You're the author of creation. You're the Lord of every man. And your cry of love reads out across the land. Yet you left the gaze of angels, Came to seek and save the lost, And exchange the joy of heaven For the anguish of the cross. Yet how silently you suffered that the guilty may go free. You're the author of creation. You're the Lord of every man. And your cry of love rings out across the land. With a shout you rose victorious, wrestling victory from the grave, and ascended into heaven, leading captives in your wake. Now you stand before the Father, interceding for your From each tribe and tongue and nation, you are leading sinners home. You're the author of creation. You're the Lord of every man. And your cry of love rings out across the land. All right, we'll ask you to stand here just a moment. Number 303, People Need the Lord. As we're standing and preparing to sing, we'll allow our first, second, and third graders, three, four, and five-year-olds to exit either one of these doors to go upstairs for Children's Church. 303, People Need the Lord. People need the Lord. People need the Lord. At the end of broken dreams, He's the open door. People need the Lord. Please be seated. Today in our bulletin we're highlighting our missionaries who we partner with, James and Rebecca Scott, we support in the country of Japan. And we'll share some of their praises this morning. Tonight we'll share their prayer requests. But just praising the Lord, Brother James was able to be part of the Bible conference that was going on at one of the Bible colleges there in Kobe, Japan here recently. So he was privileged to be a part of that conference. And then they had a good Easter service they're praising the Lord for. They had 12 new people attend. that day, and the Sunday after that Easter service, a lady, a believer, her name's there in our bulletin, began attending the following week, their church, and has been attending ever since, so they're thankful for that. Also, they've just recently celebrated their first anniversary since the day they started that church plant there in Japan. We'll praise the Lord on behalf of the Scott family here today for these praises. They're going to be with us in September for our Vision for the World Day, so you'll get to see them and hear firsthand of what God is doing there in Japan in the month of September. Also, we're focusing today on Daniel and Christina Norton, who we partner with in the city of Aviano, Italy. And they've, praising the Lord, they've applied for their permanent residence papers to be in the country there. And it's been a lengthy process for them to get this appointment with the government, but that's coming up on September 4th. So they're praising the Lord for that. And also, praising the Lord, their co-workers who they work with there. or have just recently come back from their furlough in the United States, so they're back involved in the ministry and they're praising the Lord for that. We'll go to the Lord and praise the Lord for these praises on behalf of the Scott family and the Norton family this morning. Let's pray for our offerings this morning. Let's pray. Father, we do love you this morning, Lord, and already this morning it's been so good to hear what you're doing. The things you're doing in the country where you have Josh and Jamie serving you, Lord, we praise you. It's just wonderful. We rejoice at what you're doing in that part of the world. We do also praise you for what you're doing through the Scott family in the country of Japan, Lord. We thank you for this wonderful Easter service that they had and the 12 new people that attended the service there that day and this lady that's a believer that has been coming ever since. Lord, we thank you for that. Continue to grow that church, I pray, Lord. Continue to save the lost in that city where you have them serving you in the country of Japan, Lord. We thank you for this one year that they've had since they started that church plant. Lord, we pray for them. continued growth in people's lives and in that church there in the country of Japan. Thank you that we can be involved in what you're doing there. We do praise you for the Norton family as well in the country of Italy. Thank you that you worked out this appointment with the government for their residency permits, Lord, and that's coming up in September. What a tremendous hurdle that is for them, I know, and it's been a lengthy process to get this appointment with the government. We thank you. We praise you that you're in control of all these things. We pray that you'd allow them to get these permits so that they can stay in the country there, Lord. I pray also for their co-workers that are back from furlough, getting back involved in the ministry there, just continue to grow that church as well. and work in people's lives, I pray. Thank you that we can be involved in through our praying and our giving and just have a part in what you're doing all over the world. I pray that you'll take our offerings today, use them for the furtherance of the gospel. We ask all this in Jesus' name, amen. Early in the morning still. Before the daylight streaks the sky, I would know His will. I commune with Christ my Savior, and listen carefully, and gain the strength I need from Him while praying quietly. Thank you, Lord, for hearing me. Thank you, Lord, for knowing who I am. Thank you, Lord, for answering my call. The assurance of your presence calms and stills my troubled soul. All those who are troubled, who languish in the night. As trials come and peace departs, and hope fades out of sight. Your strength will not avail you, you cannot win alone. Christ calls today, give him his way, he ne'er forsakes. His own. Thank you, Lord, for hearing me. Thank you, Lord, for knowing who I am. Thank you, Lord, for answering my call. The assurance of your presence calms and stills my troubled soul. So you have your Bible this morning. I encourage you to take that, turn to the book of 2 Corinthians and chapter 12. If you don't have a Bible with you, but you'd like to follow along, there should be one in a seat back near you. Those little black pew Bibles there should be available to you. 2 Corinthians and chapter 12. A lot of money is put into commercials to get your attention, to try to stick in your mind, to make you think of a certain product or a certain service. There's one from a number of years ago. It was an advertisement for Ally Bank. It's an online bank. I guess I'm giving them free advertising at the moment. But it stuck in my mind. It was very memorable. They're trying to make a point about how they didn't limit their customers like other banks did. And so one of these creative and cute commercials has a little girl walking into a room, and there's a banker there. And he gives her a bicycle. And he says, here, this is your bicycle. You can have this. And then she goes and gets on. She's all excited. She tries to ride. And he points to a square that's about five foot square marked out on the floor. says, well, you can only ride inside these lines. So she rides a couple feet and he stands there and stops her. And he turns the bike and she rides a couple more feet and he stands there and stops her. And she comments, I can't really ride in this little box. To which the banker replies, you mean you can't ride very far. You then see the frustration on the little girl's face, upset at such a meaningless restriction. You can tell she's thinking, why don't you just get out of the way and let me ride my bicycle? It's a clever commercial showing how frustrating dealing with unnecessary restrictions can be. But let me ask you, what about you, Christian? Have you ever felt that way about God? Has there ever been a time when you've just wanted to say, God, would you get these crazy limitations out of my life and just let me ride my bicycle? Or whatever it is that you're wanting to do. What do you do when you're faced with restrictions, with limitations? These take all forms and shapes. Found one author, she says this, whether we admit it or not, we are often limited in what we can or cannot do. If we're parents of young children, we have limitations in our time, sleep, freedom, or all three. If we're married, we're limited in our ability to do something on a whim. If we have a cold or the flu, we're limited in physical activity. But sometimes our limitations come in more painful forms. If we are suffering from cancer, we are limited by chemotherapy and radiation. If we are paralyzed or physically disabled, we are limited in even the simplest of activities, like fixing our own lunch. Sometimes our limitations can be discouraging and overwhelming. And you know she doesn't even list all the limitations out there. You ever feel limited by the number of hours there are in a day trying to get done everything that you need to? I know I did in preparing for this sermon. Children, do you ever feel limited by the fact that you're still just a kid and you can't do many of the things you want to do or think you should be allowed to do? For those of you that are single adults, maybe you feel limited because you're single. Maybe you're a child in school and you feel like, as a student, you have so many things to do. How can I do all those things and all the other things I want or need to do and focus on my schoolwork? Maybe you feel limited because you have a job. Maybe you feel limited because you don't have a job. Maybe you feel limited because you're too young. Limited because you're too old. All kinds of different limitations. Maybe you're a caregiver and you feel, I have no ability to do anything other than just simply care for this person that I'm responsible for. What do you do when you are faced with limitations? Thankfully, God has given us a wonderful example in scripture of how to face limitation. We're in second Corinthians. chapter 12. I'm going to read aloud and you follow along as I read verses 7 through 10. The Apostle Paul speaking here, he says, and lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure. For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me. he said unto me my grace is sufficient for thee for my strength is made perfect in weakness most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities that the power of Christ may rest upon me therefore I take pleasure in infirmities and reproaches and necessities and persecutions and distresses for Christ's sake for when I am weak then am I strong let's pray and ask for the Lord's help as we look into his word. Father, we thank you for your word that it's alive, it's quick and powerful, it's sharper than any two-edged sword. It is able to cut, it's able to pierce, it's able to show where we need to be helped, where we need to be changed. And I pray that today your word would cut that it would pierce even my heart and the hearts of all of us as listeners, that we would yield to you and yield to your eternal word. Would you by your spirit please accomplish a work that's eternal. For it's in Christ's name we pray. Amen. We come this morning to the life of the Apostle Paul. Many of you are familiar with his life. He starts out as the greatest opponent of Christianity, persecuting the saints. And then he's miraculously saved. He has a wonderful conversion on the road to Damascus. God turns his life around and he becomes the greatest missionary ever known. He becomes the apostle to the Gentiles. He spreads the gospel essentially to all the known world. And Paul was a very busy man. After his experience in Damascus, after his time in Antioch, then God takes him on several missionary journeys and he's not only going from town to town and preaching the gospel, he's seeing people saved, he's trying to establish churches, he's also taking with him a team of young men, a team of helpers that he's training for ministry. In some cases he leaves them behind as the pastors. He's not only raising up pastors and raising up churches and reaching people, he's also writing letters to the churches, and he feels the burden, the care of all the churches on him. And Paul is very, very busy in serving God. And then, we find out that God limits him. God places some challenges, some restrictions in his life that slow him down in serving God. What an interesting thing. Paul has such a huge task as the apostle to the Gentiles. He writes half of the New Testament He plants churches in areas of all the known world. Even when he's facing death, he's still giving out the gospel. He's still seeing God's word go forth. And yet God chooses to take this man who is so effective and so busy in the work of the Lord and says, I'm going to have to limit you. We find in verse 7, lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations. Now, I'm not going to take the time this morning, but if you read the context, you're going to find Paul is saying, God has used me in some incredible ways. I've had some incredible things happen to me. And yet God says, I'm going to make sure, Paul, that you have some limitations in your life. Well, what happens? You look down in verse seven, right after that, where I just read, it says, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh. First thing we're gonna see here this morning is the thorn. I would say it this way, sometimes God allows painful limitations. Sometimes God allows painful limitations. What is this thorn? Paul says, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh. What was it? Well, traditionally, this is believed to be some type of physical limitation or sickness. Some have conjectured that maybe it was a person, an especially aggravating opponent. Some have believed, and this is probably the majority viewpoint, some have believed that this was poor eyesight. Possibly in conjunction with Paul's Damascus Road experience in Acts 9. And there's other hints throughout scripture that it seems that Paul had weak eyesight, poor eyesight, and so some say this thorn here that he speaks of was his eyesight. I'm not here this morning to determine what it was, since God does not specify in this passage. But the fact remains that Paul had a thorn. What was the thorn? In Paul's day, as in our day, a source of pain. I don't know if you've ever done this, but I know when I was a child, you go see a beautiful rose and you're like, oh, that's cool. It's growing there on its little rose bush. And you reach out your childish hand, you got to grab that rose. And what happens? You reach for the rose and you get the thorns and immediately you find out what thorns are. They're sharp. They're pokey. They seem to be razor sharp in some cases. They will cut you open. You will know right away what a thorn is by firsthand experience. Even now as an adult, sometimes I'll be handling something like that, and before I know it, I've found the thorns. We know what it's like to experience that sudden unexpected pain. by a thorn. And so what was a thorn? It was an unexpected and painful reality in Paul's life. Whatever it was, it was a source of constant pain and irritation. In fact, Paul further develops this idea of constant pain, of constant aggravation. You keep going, and now he picks up a new image. He says, the messenger of Satan to buffet me. Now buffet here, think of a boxer, somebody who's in the ring, And think of a boxer throwing a quick series of punches, maybe a quick flurry of punches, trying to get in some damage at his opponent. That's what the word buffet here means. Think about taking a flurry of punches from a boxer. You're in the ring, you're trying to hold your hands up, trying to protect yourself, protect your head, but these punches just keep coming, a constant source of pain. And Paul says it was a messenger of Satan. Sounds pretty intimidating, pretty discouraging. Now messengers, not as big of a deal in today's world. But we know what it's like. Those who've been tasked to deliver something, right? You see them all the time. All those purchases you make on Amazon, you keep UPS busy, right? You keep UPS going. You see all those pictures pile up on your porch. Somebody delivers those, right? United States Postal Service, you know what it's like to have their mail truck come by. You see FedEx go by. These guys are on it. They're in a hurry. They've got things to deliver. And messengers in ancient times, It was a pretty big deal to deliver your message. You didn't just show up and do like they do today, put this little slip on your door and say, sorry, we missed you. You're gonna have to go pick up your package. No, they had to stick around and wait until they could deliver their message. A messenger's job was to deliver the message and he couldn't stray from that. He had to keep coming again and again and again and trying over and over and over in order to deliver his message. And here, Paul says, I've been given a messenger, a constantly showing up, constantly in my face, persistent messenger. and he is buffeting me. That is how he describes his thorn in the flesh. So something painful, something that's causing punishment, and something that's showing up over and over and over again. Now once again, we don't know what or who this was. It could have been a physical limitation. It could have been a sickness. It could have been an actual person. But whatever the case is here is constantly being beat up, being hurt by someone or something. The kind of pain you can't get away from. Whether physical pain, emotional pain, psychological pain. It's constant. And notice the severity. Paul doesn't say, I got a paper cut that constantly stung me. No. He is the image of a thorn that's going to pierce, that's going to tear, that's going to cut, that you immediately want to get away from. He is the picture of a constantly showing up messenger who's punching him, who's delivering physical pain. And it was striking him repeatedly, constant aggravation. Whatever it was, this was a big deal to Paul. And I think it's a blessing that God in his wisdom did not tell us what this thorn in the flesh was. Why would I say it's a blessing that we don't know? Well, if he just spelled it out and said, hey, it's my eyesight. Hey, it's a believer who's causing trouble for me in the churches. Maybe we would more easily say, well, I don't struggle with my eyesight. I don't have any other believers in the church right now that are causing me trouble, so I don't really relate to this. But the way that it's described for us, it becomes something we can universally relate to. God in his wisdom leaves it undefined so that we can understand that yes, you and I as well have thorns. All of us have limitations in our lives, things that hurt us, things that hold us back, things that we would desperately want to see changed if only we could. For some of you, maybe it's your current state in life. Say, where I'm at in life, I'm kind of hemmed in. I'm a mom and I have small children at home and that limits me. Maybe you say I have no children and that limits me. Maybe some of you say I'm limited because I'm too young. Others would say I'm limited because I'm too old. Some say I'm limited by my job. Others say I'm limited because I don't have a job. I have physical limitations that hold me back. I don't have the energy to do what I used to do. Or maybe this morning, tomorrow along these lines, you say, I'm limited because I'm not as talented as she is. I'm not as smart as he is. I don't have as much money as he does. I don't get to work in a Christian environment like he does, and that holds me back. I don't have as many friends as she does. I don't have a quick, easygoing personality that easily makes friends like they do. Limitations. Things that we wish were different. Thorns. Things that are there to aggravate and bother us. Things that we wish we could change. Things that at times feel unbearable. So we've seen the thorn. Limitations. Let's look next at the request. What is the request? We find this in verse 8. For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me. Now Paul here is an example to us as believers what he does when he finds himself limited, when he finds himself restricted, coming up again and again to a limitation that is bothersome to him. His response is exemplary. What does he do? He doesn't just get mad. He doesn't just go and tell his friends. What he does is he goes and talks to God about it. He takes it to the Lord in prayer. And this is truly An example to us of how we should respond. As a Christian, knowing that God is for me, God is working for my good, I should be willing to come to my Heavenly Father and pray and ask Him to take it away. So let's think through here. Paul asked God to take this thorn away. Was it wrong for Paul to ask God to take this thorn away? And I would say no. Why not? Say the key with that is to understand that we don't know, we don't always know what God's will is. Right? And so we pray. And we pray, asking according to the Lord's will. Sometimes God gives limitations and they're temporary. Young people, you understand this. There's some things that you're limited in now that once you get older you won't be limited to the same degree anymore. There's even some other things in life that are temporary. Sometimes there's physical trials or challenges that may be temporary. I think even within our church body. Over the last year or so, we've had different men who've found themselves unable to speak, unable to talk, unable to sing, unable to carry on in communication the way they would like to. And they've prayed and they've seen God restore that. What a wonderful joy for us as a congregation to rejoice, to see God. taking a limitation that could have been permanent and allowing it to be temporary. Sometimes God does remove those restrictions, those limitations, and what a blessing, what a way to strengthen our faith. How wonderful. And yet we know that not all limitations are temporary. Then we come to the other side of the equation and we know that some limitations are permanent. There are some things that while we're in this life, we're going to face for the rest of our time here. But giving it over to the Lord in prayer is the necessary and correct first step. This is where we need to start with our burdens, our frustrations, our limitations. we need to take them to the throne of grace. Hebrews 4.16 says, let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. James tells us that God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble. And so we humble ourselves, we come before God and we say, God, here's this need I'm facing. God, I'm facing this limitation, this challenge. God, I don't know what to do about this. Would you please take this away? And let me tell you, friend, that's not necessarily anything wrong. And I think that is the correct response for the believer to go to our Heavenly Father because we don't know what His will is. Sometimes God may choose to take away the restriction, but that's why we pray according to His will, saying, God, if it be Your will. And we find this is Paul's experience. Paul prays and asks God to take it away. For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me." So he prays, time goes by, nothing has changed, so Paul prays again. More time passes, still no change, so Paul prayed and asked God again to take this limitation away. I don't think this was just... Three days, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Paul prayed three different times, God take it away. The passage doesn't say, but the way it's lined up, I would imagine Paul is describing three specific periods, three really intense, serious periods of time. Maybe prayer and fasting, I don't know. Scripture doesn't say, but quite likely, this is three distinct, different times where Paul gets so serious, coming before the throne of grace. Maybe he has other people join in praying with him. Maybe it's something that he focuses on for a set period of time and says, I'm just going to take this seriously and earnestly before God. And you know, our God is pleased when we take prayer that seriously. He wants to hear our request. He wants to hear from his children. And so Paul here is intensely focused in interceding, begging God to take this away. And some of you know what this is like. Maybe you have that physical limitation. Maybe there's a sickness. Maybe there's a medical condition in your life or in the life of someone you love. Maybe you've asked God to take it away. Maybe it's been intense prayer for your children. begging God to work in their lives. Maybe it's prayer for God to provide a different job. Maybe it's asking God to work in your spouse's life. Maybe you know exactly what it is to have these intense, all-consuming times of prayer. And so Paul makes the request, and I believe that is where we need to start when we find ourselves limited. when we find these thorns, these limitations, these aggravations in our life. But let's move on next to the answer. What is the answer? We look down in verse 9. Here's God's answer. Now it's beautifully phrased and it's written So well. But if you were to take that statement, my grace is sufficient for thee, my strength is made perfect in weakness, and if we were to boil it down into one word, Paul says, God, would you please take away my thorn in the flesh? If we were to boil God's answer down into one word, one short word, what would it be? The answer is? What is it? No. God says, essentially, no. And this is where we find it challenging. Sometimes God's answer is no. And that can be a crushing blow. Do you mean that I have to stay at this miserable job forever? How can it be God's will that my spouse has cancer? Does God not want me to be married? Does God not want me to be happy, to have the plans that I have for my life? Does God want to keep me poor forever? Or maybe this one. God, I asked you to heal the person that I love, and they don't get better, and yet this person over here that isn't even serving you, they don't even live for Jesus, and they're okay. What do you do? when God says no. It can be very hard to accept. You see, we like to hear yes. If you're here this morning and you know Christ as your Savior, maybe you've reached that really important time in your life where you have surrendered your life to God to do His will. That's a very important step in the life of every Christian I believe. When you say, God, I'm yours, I belong to you, God, I will do whatever you want me to do. And so maybe you've done that in your life and you've said, God, I'll do whatever you want. And you find, as we all do, that doing God's will isn't that bad as long as it's going a certain way. So let's imagine it this way. Let's say this is my plan for my life. My plan for my life, my will is going this way. As long as God's will is going right over top, going the same direction as my will, it's not too bad, right? When does following God's will become difficult? When God's will does what? When all of a sudden my will is going this way, and God's will is branching off that way. It's not that hard when they're in line, right? And then something happens. You don't get the promotion. You don't make the team. That relationship doesn't pan out. That person doesn't respond the way that you thought. When that new treatment that was supposed to help your condition doesn't work, when you don't see how your situation is ever going to get better than it is right now, in fact, you think it's only going to get worse, when your will starts going one direction and it appears that God's will is going a different direction, what do we do then? See, Paul finds himself in that spot. Paul's doing God's will. He's serving God, pleasing God. He's working so hard, accomplishing possibly more than any missionary ever did. And his will is God, but you take away the thorn, and it appears that God's will is what? It is no. Why do we do that? What do you do when God limits you and it becomes evident it's not going to change? The way you respond in that moment has everything to do with your view of God. Let me say that again. The way we respond when we're faced with a limitation that isn't going to end, it reveals what our view of God is. What do you think of God? What do you think He is like? Some have a false view of God. You might view God as a celestial killjoy. He's just up there looking down and trying to stop anybody who's having too much fun. Or if you're doing something that isn't quite, and he's just waiting to kind of mess your life up, to trip you up, to make sure nothing goes well for you. You might view God that way. That's a false and damaging view to think God's just out to get you. But within this group, I don't think that's probably the most damaging view. I don't think that's the biggest temptation. of how to view God in the wrong way. I would think that there's a slightly more sneaky, less noticeable false view of God that's more damaging. And I would say it's this. The more damaging view of God that what really God wants is for me to be happy, free, and unlimited in any way. That what God really wants is for my life just to be awesome. that everything always goes right. The world that lives around us has a view that isn't really helpful. The world around us might view as the zenith, the peak of human life, to be, say, maybe a teenager. Someone who's young enough that their body still works right, and they don't have to work yet. They're not married and held down. They can just go out and have fun. And the world's view is the peak of life is just to be a free, carefree, easygoing, no problems, no limitations, no restrictions teenager. That is the peak of human existence. And sometimes that view bleeds over into church, that that's what God wants me to be like, to be like a teenager with no responsibilities on a summer day. That's what God wants for me. It doesn't sound as bad right off the bat, so let's consider this view. Is God most concerned with my happiness? with my immediate temporary happiness? Or, I would throw out there, or is God more concerned with my holiness? Is he most concerned with me being free of limitations or with me being like Jesus Christ? Because let me tell you something, if God is just most concerned with my happiness, if it's just 100% what makes me happy, God's not doing a very good job. Do you follow where I'm going with this? If God's true and absolute will is just that we all be happy, that nobody have anything wrong, nobody have anything limiting them, how many of you then is God failing? Because if his job is just to make you as happy as you could possibly be, carefree, easy life, then God's not doing a very good job. So we have to come back and say, what is God's goal for me? What does God want for me? And I'll just quickly, for the sake of time, throw out a couple. We could go all over scripture, but I think really simply we can start with salvation. God wants you to know Christ as your Savior, to be free from an eternal wrath you would face in hell, First of all, if you're here, God wants you to know Jesus as your Savior. And if you're here and you're not sure that Jesus is your Savior, that all your sins are forgiven, and that you have a home in heaven, that is the first thing that God desires for you. Secondly, if you know Christ as your Savior, God wants you to look like Jesus Christ. that you'd be conformed to His image. God is more concerned with you looking like Jesus than He is with your temporary happiness. And thirdly, God is concerned with His own glory, that you bring Him glory. So He wants you to be saved, He wants you to look like Jesus, and He wants you to bring Him glory. And all of those things are higher on God's priority list than you living a carefree, happy-go-lucky, easy life, with no limitations. Because if he were, then he's not doing a very good job. But if it is my holiness he's concerned with, my Christ-likeness, then yes, limitations can make sense in God's plan. Let's get this down to the nitty-gritty, to where we live. I can think of examples within my own family, maybe you can think of examples with people you know. I think of watching my grandparents age. Each of them knew Christ as Savior. Each of them served the Lord in their local church, were faithful. And as each of my grandparents got into their retirement years, on each side, one of them had a spouse that was failing, that they spent the better part of a decade full-time caring for as they aged. Now, most of us don't picture that as our retirement years, right? Limited. Not being able to go to church regularly. Hardly able to leave the house at all. Having to have someone there watch your loved one at all times. All your time being taken by caring for someone else. Can this possibly be God's plan? You think of your retirement years as a time to take it easy, right? You're going to see the world. You're going to do what you finally really wanted to do. A time to rest, a time to do things you love, to spend time with family. How many of you have sat there and thought, you know what I want to do during my retirement years? I want to be a caregiver for my spouse. I want to be responsible for my grandchildren. I want to be watching over someone full time to the point of personal, physical exhaustion. That's not something that we plan on, right? That doesn't sound like a plan for our happiness. So did God fail? Has God failed, in this case, my grandparents or that person that you think of? Think, you know, that's not fair. Isn't God's goal just to make me happy? And we allow these false ideas of who God is and what he wants to color our mind, and before we know it, we're mad at God. Because we've created a false God who's not really the God of the Bible, and we're trying to worship that God that doesn't exist. But Paul here is exemplary in his response. Paul realized that God had a purpose for his life. We find this in Philippians 1.20. Maybe you know this verse. I'll turn there real quick. Philippians, you can hold your place in Corinthians. Philippians 1 and verse 20. Paul says, according to my earnest expectation and my hope, that in nothing I shall be ashamed. What would shame you, Paul? But that with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether it be by life, or by death, for to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain." The kernel that I want to pull from that verse, so much happening there. Paul says, the point of my life is that God be magnified. What does a magnifying glass do? It makes something look bigger. To magnify God means to put the emphasis on Him, to make Him look bigger and more important to those around you. Paul says, the whole point of my life isn't about me! The point of my life is to point others to God, to make Him look big. My life isn't about me and my comfort, whether it's by life or by death. It's all about Him. Paul understood that God's purpose was to glorify himself. God wants us to know him and to serve him. God has bigger plans for us than we can have for ourselves. And Paul had to realize, you know, there's so many things I could do, God. If it weren't for this Lord in the flesh, I could teach to so many people. I could preach to so many more people. I could plant churches in so many more cities. I could train so many more young men. And he has to realize, you know what, God? Your plans are different than mine. You know, you're accomplishing everything you wanna do, even through my limitations. Look at the second part of verse nine. Most gladly, now there's a word, most gladly, therefore, will I rather glory in my infirmities, or my limitations, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore, I take pleasure Another interesting word, in infirmities and reproaches and necessities and persecutions and distresses, for Christ's sake, for when I am weak, then am I strong. How could Paul do well in the face of these seemingly unnecessary, seemingly pointless restrictions? Because Paul had the right view of God. Because Paul realized, it's not about me and my ideas, it's not about me and my plans and my wishes and my immediate happiness, this is about what God has. My life is not my own. I'm bought with a price, therefore I'm going to glorify God in my body, which is God's. Paul had already given himself completely over to God to do his will. If God only desired for us to be free and happy, then he has failed. But that is not God's only desire for us. His purposes are so much bigger bringing glory to Him, being more like Christ, that we get to know God better. So our view of God dictates how we'll respond when God tells us no. So then, finally, we have a decision to make. And we've already looked at it here, the second part of verse 9, deciding to accept those limitations. Paul makes the right decision. He accepts his God-given limitations and takes even pleasure in them. Paul stopped fighting. He got on board with God's will. Now for me, this is a picture that I find helpful to think, what is it like to get on board with God's will? How would I accept and go with God's will? Maybe you've been to a big city, and you've seen the public transport there. In some cases, it's subways. In some cases, it's rail cars that are elevated above. You have the the L or you have the Metro, maybe you've ridden, or at least you can picture something like that, this mass crowded public transportation. So imagine you go down to the subway station, right, and there's all these people pushing everywhere, and you go and you get on that car that you're supposed to get onto, and you get on it and you hear the announcer, ding, this trolley is heading northward. We're heading north. And in that moment you realize, I don't want to go north, I actually want to go south, but the doors have already closed, right? And so that train car, that subway car is starting to move and it's starting to go north. And you have the brilliant idea to say, well, it's going north, but you know, I want to go south, so you know what I'm going to do? Even though there's 500 people on this train car, seemingly. I'm going to push and shove and wiggle my way through and I'm going to push my way this way on the subway car because it's going north and I want to go south. So I'm going to try to slide and wiggle my way south. Now, can you momentarily, to some degree, achieve your purpose and work your way slightly south? Yes. Are you really accomplishing very much? No, because that car is going where? It's going north. And when I think about getting on board with God's will, Folks, sometimes aren't we like that? Where God is very clearly going one direction, and God has said, hey, this is what's happening. We say, no, God, no, no, I'm going to go this way. No, God, I'm going to push, and I'm going to fight, and I'm going to fight upstream, and I'm going to push and shove and scream and shout, because I'm going south. Sometimes we're like Jonah. God's made it so clear. This is where I want you to go. We say, no, God, I'm going to go the other way. Truth is, God is going to accomplish his will. God is going to do what he's going to do in your life and mine. But are you going to fight it? Or are you going to get on board with what God is doing? Are you gonna say, okay, God, this is where you want me to go? And so Paul decides here, rather than just cross my arms, rather than just grin and bear it and say, fine, I'll put up with it, Verse 9, he says, I will glory in my infirmities. Verse 10, I take pleasure in infirmities. Why? Why would Paul take pleasure in a thorn? Why would any of us gladly accept limitations? That doesn't make sense. That seems the opposite of what we should be doing. Why? Here's why. For when I'm weak, then I am strong, verse 9, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. You see, your view of God becomes really important here. Do you just view all this as pointless, or do you say, you know what, God? You actually have a purpose. You actually have a reason. You actually have an idea of what's going on. You're actually good and sovereign and in control, and I can trust you, and I don't have to fight against what you're doing. God, I can get on board with what you have planned for me. God, I can trust you. Why? Because then I get grace. Grace. Help from God to do what's right. Power. Strength to face what I have. You see, you can be here this morning and you can be facing limitations and you can fight God and that's fine. That's your choice. But you know what you're not going to get? You're not going to get grace. You're not going to get help from God to face that. Because again, James tells us what? God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble. As long as you're proud, as long as you're resisting God and saying, no thank you God, I'm gonna go this way, I'm not going that way, then you don't get grace. But when you accept what God is doing, then the power of Christ can rest upon you. Then when you're weak, you can be strong. If Paul had said no, He couldn't have known the tremendous riches of God's grace. He couldn't have been used for God's glory. Folks, what I'm trying to get across to you this morning is not, here's how to get rid of all your problems, all your limitations, all your weaknesses. Here's the magical formula. I can't do that. But what I can say is here's how to get grace. when you are willing to accept and say, yes, God, I will humbly submit to you. I will admit you are God and I'm not. God, my plan was to go this way. Your plan was to go that way. Rather than fight against you, God, I'm going to say, okay, God, I will get on board and I will go wherever you take me because my life is yours. My life was never mine anyway. God, I can't in any way stop you by thinking I can control my own life. But I want to know grace. I want to know the power of Christ. I want to be used for you. Don't waste your trial. Don't waste your limitation. Don't waste that weakness that God has given you by fighting against it, by becoming angry, by saying, no, God. Instead, yield. the power of Christ. How much better can it get than that? For this Christian, that is the end game. God gets the glory. We look more like Christ. In the end, we win. Eternally, it will be worth it all. You know, Paul isn't in heaven second-guessing and doubting God and saying, you know, God, if you would have just done it my way, it would have been so much better. No. In the end, God accomplishes His work, and we win. The only way we can lose is to try to go against what God is trying to do. This morning, if you want to be on the winning side, submit to what God is doing. If you want to lose, fight God. Say, no, God, I've got a better idea. In fact, I'm going to be mad at you, God, until you do things my way. So how are you doing this morning? What is your view of God? Are you struggling with the lie of, I'd be happy, my life would be perfect if God would just take away blank? Are you believing the devil's lie that God hasn't given you enough? Do you struggle to accept what God has given you? Maybe you're mad this morning that God would allow limitations into your life. Do you believe that God's ultimate plan for your life is just that you be happy? Or do you accept that he wants you to be more like Jesus, that he wants your life to bring him glory? What is your picture of God today? I would ask that you'd stand to your feet, standing if you're able with your head bowed, your eyes closed. In a moment, we'll have an invitation song, give you the opportunity to respond. If God is doing work in your heart this morning, Let's pray. Father, thank you for your word. Thank you for the example of this brother in Christ who had to come to the end of himself, had to accept the limitations that you've given. Lord, thank you for his response to this thorn. And I pray that for each of us here this morning, that our hearts would submit to you, that you would win the victory today. For it's in Christ's name we pray, amen. The piano is going to play. While the piano is playing, if God is doing a work in your heart and you feel the need to respond, you can respond there in your seat. If you'd like to, you can come here. You can kneel in these front chairs, these front steps. If you want someone to pray with you, you can come and you can speak to one of our men. Have one of our men and one of our ladies pray with you and just share what God is doing in your life. Maybe you're here this morning, you don't know Christ. You're not sure that Jesus is your savior. If you need to know Christ, would you come, would you speak to someone and say, I need to know this God that I heard about today. I'd love to take a Bible and show you how you can know for sure that heaven is your home and that you can now get on board with God and what he's doing in your life. The words will be projected. Let's sing that chorus there, Turn Your Eyes. O soul, are you weary and troubled? No light in the darkness you see. There's light for a look at the Savior, And life more abundant and free. Turn your eyes upon Jesus, Look full in His wonderful face, And the things of earth will grow strangely dim In the light of His glory and grace. Just want to give you a couple announcements before we dismiss our service this morning. Things you'll want to know about this week, Tuesday, a wonderful organization here in town that promotes life choices. They're receiving donations. You can swing by and drop off donations there. Read about that in your bulletin, the items that they're collecting. Again, we're thankful to have the Josh and Jamie, their family, with us this morning. If you all would, you can go back to your display table, go by and meet them. Thankful for them and their ministry. Tonight, as part of the evening service, we're going to be having some updates, some summer ministry updates. We'll be hearing from our New York City team. We'll be hearing a presentation from them, a video update from the Stensis family, and then one more summer ministry update. Looking forward to one of our young men sharing with us as well. So come back tonight at five o'clock. Summer ministry fellowships begin on Wednesday. So this is where we break into different groups. There'll be one group meeting here at church. There'll be four other groups meeting in homes in East Ridge, Hamilton County, Fort Luthorp, and Catoosa County. So you need to know where you're supposed to go. So if you haven't gotten signed up yet, please talk to us. We want to make sure you have information, addresses, those kind of things. So if you're doing that and you haven't gotten that taken care of yet, please take care of that this morning. And then Freedom That Lasts, that ministry will continue to meet here on Wednesday, so wanted to mention that as well. We have a couple things to invite people to even this week. We have our young people doing Capture the Flag, so we have invitation cards for that. Pick up some of these. This will be Friday night starting at 7. We're hosting this together with Delray Baptist Church. This will be hosted at their property over near Lake Winnie. And so I want to welcome you to participate in that. Invite young people, 7th grade on up. Those going into 7th grade on up. That will be Friday at 7. So pick up some of those. Also invite people to be with us next Sunday for our Celebrate Freedom service. You can pick up these cards. We will have dinner on the grounds after our 10.30 service. Bring enough food for your family and for guests. So we're doing this potluck style. And drinks and paper plates we will provide. And then you can drop off your food in the gym kitchen before Sunday school. We will have lunch and then a brief afternoon service instead of our evening service, our normal five o'clock service. You can read about all those things in your bulletin. Let's close by singing the chorus, Declare His Glory. Thank you. You are dismissed. Thank you for joining us. Jesus said to those who believed on him in John chapter 8, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed, and ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. We join our God in desiring that you will know the liberating power of the truth of God's word as you apply it to your life. We would love to hear from you and find out what God is doing in your life. You can go to our website, stanleyheights.org. There you can contact us with your prayer requests. You can ask a question. You can find a free resource to study the Bible as a guide in your journey. You can get other sermons and other free resources that are available for you. While we're talking, may I ask you this question? Have you made the most important decision of your life to turn to Jesus Christ and receive Him by faith to be your personal Savior? Oh, if you haven't, would you do so right now? And if you would like some more guidance in that decision, you can go to our website, stanleyheights.org forward slash eternity, and you'll find some help that will guide you in that decision. Again, thank you for joining us. I look forward to hearing from you soon.