And though these are days of great trial, Of famine and darkness and sword,
Still, we are the voice in the desert crying "Prepare ye the way of the Lord!" amen.
Let us sing together.
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Let us go to 2 Chronicles 20:1-19. Its a large portion of Scripture but I ask you to read it all and don't be to worried about the names and the pronunciation of them, I struggle as well.
Jehoshaphat Defeats Moab and Ammon
20 After this, the Moabites and Ammonites with some of the Meunites came to wage war against Jehoshaphat. 2 Some people came and told Jehoshaphat, “A vast army is coming against you from Edom,[b] from the other side of the Dead Sea. It is already in Hazezon Tamar” (that is, En Gedi). 3 Alarmed, Jehoshaphat resolved to inquire of the Lord, and he proclaimed a fast for all Judah. 4 The people of Judah came together to seek help from the Lord; indeed, they came from every town in Judah to seek him. 5 Then Jehoshaphat stood up in the assembly of Judah and Jerusalem at the temple of the Lord in the front of the new courtyard 6 and said: “Lord, the God of our ancestors, are you not the God who is in heaven? You rule over all the kingdoms of the nations. Power and might are in your hand, and no one can withstand you. 7 Our God, did you not drive out the inhabitants of this land before your people Israel and give it forever to the descendants of Abraham your friend?
8 They have lived in it and have built in it a sanctuary for your Name, saying, 9 ‘If calamity comes upon us, whether the sword of judgment, or plague or famine, we will stand in your presence before this temple that bears your Name and will cry out to you in our distress, and you will hear us and save us.’
10 “But now here are men from Ammon, Moab and Mount Seir, whose territory you would not allow Israel to invade when they came from Egypt; so they turned away from them and did not destroy them. 11 See how they are repaying us by coming to drive us out of the possession you gave us as an inheritance. 12 Our God, will you not judge them? For we have no power to face this vast army that is attacking us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you.” 13 All the men of Judah, with their wives and children and little ones, stood there before the Lord. 14 Then the Spirit of the Lord came on Jahaziel son of Zechariah, the son of Benaiah, the son of Jeiel, the son of Mattaniah, a Levite and descendant of Asaph, as he stood in the assembly. 15 He said: “Listen, King Jehoshaphat and all who live in Judah and Jerusalem! This is what the Lord says to you: ‘Do not be afraid or discouraged because of this vast army. For the battle is not yours, but God’s. 16 Tomorrow march down against them. They will be climbing up by the Pass of Ziz, and you will find them at the end of the gorge in the Desert of Jeruel. 17 You will not have to fight this battle. Take up your positions; stand firm and see the deliverance the Lord will give you, Judah and Jerusalem. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. Go out to face them tomorrow, and the Lord will be with you.’”
18 Jehoshaphat bowed down with his face to the ground, and all the people of Judah and Jerusalem fell down in worship before the Lord. 19 Then some Levites from the Kohathites and Korahites stood up and praised the Lord, the God of Israel, with a very loud voice 19 Then some Levites from the Kohathites and Korahites stood up and praised the Lord, the God of Israel, with a very loud voice. Amen
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Time Of Prayer:
There are a good number of things that we need to pray for. For the next few moments let us sing "in moments like theses." and give praises to Him,.
In moments like theses.
Let us pray.
When we are not sure of the future Lord help us be calm. When information comes from all sides, correct and not, help us to discern. When fear makes it hard to breathe and anxiety seems to be the order of the day, slow us down God. Help us to reach out with our hearts when we can't touch with our hands. Help us to love as perfectly as we can, knowing that "perfect love casts out all fear. For those who are sick, and those who are grieving, for those in war we pray. For all who are affected, all around the world we pray for safety, for health, for wholeness. May we feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, clothe the naked. May we walk with those who feel they are alone, and may we do all that we can to comfort the sick. Help us, O God, that we might help each other. In the love of the Creator, in the name of the Healer, in the life of the Holy Spirit that is in all and with all, we pray. Amen.
Please share with me in the Lords Prayer
Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name; thy kingdom come; thy will be done; on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory, for ever and ever. Amen.
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We will now listen to the songsters: There Is power In The Blood
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Address: Someone in the crowd
Sometimes – we get the idea that God only uses clever people. Important people. People who other people admire. But nothing could be further from the truth. Most often – it’s the little people, those who are just part of the crowd, that God calls to achieve His great and mighty purposes.
Let me ask you a question. If God is God, does He speak? I mean, does He speak here and now to people like you and me? Interesting thought. Does He? Has he spoken to you recently? Do you have a testimony of how God has revealed himself to you? Has God spoken to you at all? If He has, why not share that testimony with others. Bring hope to others. Let God use you.
We live in a world of superstars and celebrities. Many of the people we admire and aspire to are in the media. Maybe on TV in newspapers. And a lot of them get pumped up, until they are larger than life. With so many people like you and me, we could end up feeling like, just one in the crowd. Sometimes, maybe feeling less significant. Well, you are not! Let me introduce you to someone who was a nobody in a crowd, who God used mightily.
Let me take you back almost 3000 years to a time when a man by the name of Jehosaphat was the King of Judah. This is a time when Israel had split into two. The ten tribes to the North were called Israel and the two tribes in the South were called Judah. This King Jehosaphat, is one of the good guys, he honoured God and God blessed him and all the people and they had peace and rest. So Jehosaphat as King of Judah, had ten years of peace, there were no wars, it’s a real blessing. Then all of a sudden, the Ethiopian army, one million strong decides it’s going to attack Judah. This is serious stuff; this is a war like they had never experienced before. An army of over a million Ethiopians is about to march on Judah, and Judah has a much smaller army, about 500,000. In the book of 2 Chronicles, Chapter 20 and verse 3 in the Old Testament it says that Jehosaphat was afraid, he was petrified, and he prayed. Nothing’s really changed has it? People tend to pray when they are afraid, when they have loss or when a disaster happens. And there's nothing wrong with that. I'm pleased people do. Anyway, Jehosaphat prayed and all the people gathered with him and they fasted, and they prayed. It was a huge crowd, because they were taking this very seriously. They were saying ‘God, this army of more than a million people is marching on us what are we going to do? We can be taken as slaves, we could be killed, the place could be burned down.
And in this crowd in front of the King as they were praying was a man, just one face in a crowd. His name was, Jahaziel. There were thousands around him and somehow God chose him. The spirit of the Lord fell on Him like a bright light. Somehow deep inside him God empowered him. Now, let me say this. The nation of Judah had recognised prophets. It was their job to listen to what God was saying, and then relay that message back to the king. They were gifted to speak on behalf of God. But not Jahaziel. Jahaziel was one of the little people in the crowd. He was a nobody but God did something. God got Jahaziel to stand up in front of the King and the whole of the nation of Judah and say something on behalf of God.
Now remember the King isn’t a King like we understand Kings today. The King had absolute power and authority. The King had power of life and death over everybody. But Jahaziel just senses that God has touched him. And in the middle of this tense situation in the middle of a nation and a King who are bowing down before God and they’re petrified of the Ethiopian army marching on Judah. Jahaziel speaks barely a hundred words. This is what it says in 2 Chronicles Chapter 20.
The Spirit of the Lord came on Jahaziel and he said, ‘Listen all you inhabitants of Judah and you King Jehosaphat, God has something to say to you today. The message that God has for you is don’t be afraid of this great army that’s coming against you, the battle isn’t yours the battle belongs to God. Tomorrow God down against them and the end of the valley, that’s where they will be, this battle isn’t for you to fight, take your positions, stand still and watch the victory that the Lord your God will win on your behalf.’ (2 Chronicles 20: 14-17)
What courage must it have taken for Jahaziel to stand up and say something like that in front of the King, in front of a nation that was petrified. What if he got it wrong? They would stand there tomorrow at the battle and be defeated by a million strong army. And yet, when he got up and said this, it rang true in the heart of the King. It rang true in the heart of the people who were afraid. And it goes on to say that the King and all the people bowed down and worshiped God and said thank you and praised God. It was an incredible encouragement to the nation of Judah.
You see they were afraid, they were focusing on what they could see not what they couldn’t because what they couldn’t see was God. They were focusing on what they knew was marching over the hill, an army of a million men. God knew that. So, God gets Jahaziel – a nobody, a little person, someone just in the crowd. He raises up one of the very least so that the people would know that it hasn’t come from the man, but God. Because “nobody” would stand up in front of the King and say something as radical as this! And it gave them instant encouragement. Here was a small person, used by a big God for a huge impact.
There have been a few occasions in my walk with God where somebody has come along and given me a word of encouragement like that. And I’ve known instantly that it was from God. I remember on my last day at W.B.C (William Booth College)I was just rearing to go. Wanting to do stuff for God. It was then that Mark, a member of the college staff said, I just feel that God wants me to tell you, that God is not in a hurry. I had no idea what he meant by that. But over the years, I've come to understand. And it’s this; to wait until God was ready to use me in the way that He wanted to use me. Not what I wanted to do, but what God wanted me to do.
We think that God would never use us to do anything significant, but He does. Look at Jahaziel one face in a crowd of nobodies. One face in the middle of a country that was in despair. And God, for some reason picks him and pours his spirit out on this man. And the man stands up and speaks boldly and prophetically exactly the words of encouragement that God wanted him to speak. And the next day, if you read on in 2 Chronicles Chapter 20 exactly what he said comes to pass. God fights the battle for His people and they defeat this massive army without raising a finger.
God does amazing things. God uses people we would never expect.
What about you? Do you believe that God still speaks today? Do you believe that a small person like me or you could be used by a big God? Go on! Do you believe do you have the faith, do you want to live your life serving a massive, wonderful, exciting, tender, and loving God?
God uses little people to do amazing things. And he will use you. Even in a broken world like today, God will use you to bring people to victory through their troubles because in Christ, we find our hope, our victory, our comforter. Amen.
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Lets sing: In Christ alone
Use this time to bring yourself to God in personal prayer. Use this time to lift this hurting world into the arms of the Almighty. Use this time to let all your worries, cares, frustrating and fear be washed away in the Love of God.
Let us all unit in prayer at this moment and bring our world with all its wars and terror to God. Knowing that he is in control.
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As we close. Here are a few verses of scripture to ease worry, anxiety and fear. God Will Make A Way
The Benediction
The LORD bless thee, and keep thee:
The LORD make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee: The LORD lift his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace
May God be with you all.
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