By Ronald E. George Jr. at the Fayetteville
Baptist Church
Holistic Stewardship: Will you give of
time, talent, and treasures? Going
with the Lord in following His desires for your life.
Will you give of your best to the master?
The purpose of this sermon is to invite us to join
the Lord in the Garden of Decision.
Scripture Text:
Matt 26:36 (KJS) Then cometh Jesus with them unto a place called Gethsemane,
and saith unto the disciples, Sit ye here, while I go and pray yonder. 37
And he took with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and began to be
sorrowful and very heavy.
38 Then saith he unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death:
tarry ye here, and watch with me. 39 And he went a little further, and fell
on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this
cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou [wilt]. 40 And he
cometh unto the disciples, and findeth them asleep, and saith unto Peter,
What, could ye not watch with me one hour?
41 Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed [is]
willing, but the flesh [is] weak. 42 He went away again the second time, and
prayed, saying, O my Father, if this cup may not pass away from me, except I
drink it, thy will be done.
43 And he came and found them asleep again: for their eyes were heavy.
44 And he left them, and went away again, and prayed the third time, saying
the same words. 45 Then cometh he to his disciples, and saith unto them,
Sleep on now, and take [your] rest: behold, the hour is at hand, and the Son
of man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. 46 Rise, let us be going:
behold, he is at hand that doth betray me.
HE SAW YOU by
Unknown
“The final prayer of Jesus was about you.
His final pain was for you. His
final passion was for you.
Before he went to the cross, Jesus went to the
garden. And
when he spoke with his Father, you were in his prayers. As
Jesus looked into heaven, you were in his vision.
As Jesus dreamed of the
day when we will be where he is, he saw you there....
Never had he felt so alone.
What had to be done, only he could do.
An
angel couldn't do it. No angel had the power to break
open hell's gates. A
man couldn't do it.
No man has the purity to destory sin's claim. No force
on earth can face the force of evil and win except God.
And God couldn't turn his back on you.
He couldn't because he saw you, and
one look at you was all it took to convince him.
Right there in the middle
of a world which isn't fair. He saw you cast into a river of life you
didn't request. He
saw you betrayed by those you love. He
saw you with a
body, which gets sick and a heart, which grows weak.
He saw you in your own garden of gnarled trees and
sleeping friends. He saw
you staring into the pit of your own failures and the
mouth of your own
grave. He
saw you in your Garden of Gethsemane--and he didn't want you to
be alone.
He wanted you to know that he has been there,too.
He knows what it's like
to be plotted against.
He knows what it's like to be confused.
He knows
what it's like to be torn between two desires.
He knows what it's like to
smell the stench of Satan.
And, perhaps most of all, he knows what's it's
like to beg God to change his mind and to hear God say so
gently and firmly,
"NO".
For that is what God said to Jesus.
And Jesus accepted the answer. At
some
moment during midnight hour an angel of mercy came over
the weary body of
man in the garden. Jesus
stood, the anguish gone from his eyes. His heart
will fight no more.
The battle has been won.
The sign of conquest? Jesus at peace in the olive
trees.
On the eve of the cross, Jesus made his decision.
He would rather go to
hell for you than to go to heaven without you...”
1. Go to
the Garden of Gethsemane: A
time to be alone with God your Father. A
time to contemplate what is it that would have us to do with him.
A time to get to know the Father and his will for your life.
Will you go to the garden with Jesus?
How far will you go with Him?
2. Go to
the hour of prayer: Sweet
hour (or 15 minutes) of Prayer? We
need to pray. God awaits your
presence. Have you spent time
with the Lord? If Jesus needed to
pray shouldn’t we? Will you
give the Lord something to hear tonight?
3. Go to
watch with Him: Watch for
what? For the devil and
temptation. The spirit is willing
but the flesh is weak, so we must continue to watch so the devil and
temptation do not overtake us. We
don’t want to be overtaken. We
want to be victorious with the Lord, so watch and pray.
This is God’s winners circle. This
is where the victory is won.
4. Go to
watch for one another. The
Lord needed and wanted someone to watch with him, so how much the more do we
need someone to watch for us and with us.
Also, how much more do we need to watch for others and need someone to
watch for us. Today’s friend
day is the beginning of a life long task of watching for each other.
5. Go
with Him to be his living sacrifice.
Rom. 12:1-2 God wants us
to go with him to heaven so we must begin here with him in the garden of
sacrifice.
Romans 12:1 I beseech you
therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a
living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, [which is] your reasonable
service. 2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the
renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what [is] that good, and
acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
6. Go with
Him To allow the Father to lead you in your life.
Not your will but his will be done.
Will you go with the Lord? Will
you s