Here are the notes from the message at New Life Community Church yesterday. This is the second in the series ALARM BELLS, and is entitled “I am Overwhelmed.” If you would like to listen to this message, you may do so by going to our website at www.newlifesite.com. God bless!
Alarm Bells, Part 2 Sunday, June 16, 2013
“I am Overwhelmed”
But everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved, for some on Mount Zion in Jerusalem will escape, just as the Lord has said. These will be among the survivors whom the Lord has called. Joel 2:32 (NLT)
Life is one successions of challenges in which we constantly feel like “I’m not ready for this.”
1st illustration: Elementary School. I remember the first day I walked up those steps to Premont Elementary School in a small south Texas town.
2nd illustration: Football Practice.
3rd illustration: Called to ministry and pasturing a church at 19.
4th illustration: Getting married and having first child.
Life is a succession of challenges. It can be overwhelming!
Ø What do you do the day you find out your job is being eliminated due to downsizing?
Ø What do you do the day you get the call because you find out your child just went nuts on you?
Ø What do you do when you find out your top client has just decided to move his business to a competitor?
Last week I asked you three questions:
1. What signals is God sending you right now?
2. What signals are you sending?
3. How is Jesus coming to you now?
You find yourself in a mess, and you ask, “How did I get into a mess like this?” Fact is, life can be overwhelming at times. If we’re not careful the devil can step in and make you feel even worse by telling you that you’re unusual or specially disadvantaged. So, to start, we’re going to look at a few Scriptures that tell you that you are not odd or different. A lot of other people have felt exactly what you feel.
Psalm 124
1 “If it had not been the Lord who was on our side,” let Israel now say— 2 “If it had not been the Lord who was on our side, when men rose up against us, 3 Then they would have swallowed us alive, when their wrath was kindled against us; 4 Then the waters would have overwhelmed us, the stream would have gone over our soul; 5 Then the swollen waters would have gone over our soul.” Psalm 124:1-5 (NKJV)
6 Blessed be the Lord, who has not given us as prey to their teeth. 7 Our soul has escaped as a bird from the snare of the fowlers; the snare is broken, and we have escaped. 8 Our help is in the name of the Lord, who made heaven and earth. Psalm 124:6-8 (NKJV)
Psalm 142
1 I cry aloud with my voice to the Lord; I make supplication with my voice to the Lord. 2 I pour out my complaint before Him; I declare my trouble before Him. 3 When my spirit was overwhelmed within me, You knew my path. In the way where I walk they have hidden a trap for me. 4 Look to the right and see; for there is no one who regards me; there is no escape for me; no one cares for my soul. Psalm 142:1-4 (NASB)
5 I cried out to You, O Lord; I said, “You are my refuge, my portion in the land of the living.
6 “Give heed to my cry, for I am brought very low; deliver me from my persecutors, for they are too strong for me. 7 “Bring my soul out of prison, so that I may give thanks to Your name; the righteous will surround me, for You will deal bountifully with me.” Psalm 142:1-7 (NASB)
6 “Give heed to my cry, for I am brought very low; deliver me from my persecutors, for they are too strong for me. 7 “Bring my soul out of prison, so that I may give thanks to Your name; the righteous will surround me, for You will deal bountifully with me.” Psalm 142:1-7 (NASB)
Psalm 102
3 For my days are consumed like smoke, and my bones are burned like a hearth. 4 My heart is stricken and withered like grass, so that I forget to eat my bread. 5 Because of the sound of my groaning my bones cling to my skin. 6 I am like a pelican of the wilderness; I am like an owl of the desert. 7 I lie awake, and am like a sparrow alone on the housetop. Psalm 102:3-7 (NKJV)