God is: Omnipotent

There is nothing doable, that God cant do. Sermon from May 31st 2020

---

Greeting (Sunday May 31st)

Going into our 11th week of quarantine

Announcements

Next week is the first Sunday of the month, so if you're going to be coming in person, bring your own Communion bread and juice.

I hope everyone hearing this this morning, is safe and healthy and spending time in Scripture every day

If you have been watching our live stream for the past few weeks, then you know that we have been working through a Sermon Series titled: “What is God like”

Now it may seem out of place to talk about these kinds of high and lofty things, while the world around us seems to be having such a hard time getting its act together; but that is precisely why we should.

When we look to this world for direction and support, and it leaves us afraid to leave our houses----

When death and disease is threatening us----

When our future is unsure

When our health is in danger

When our safety and security as citizens of a powerful nation, are in question

When our family is falling apart and hurt surrounds us---

When sin runs free through our life---and it’s hard to see the light beyond the storm ---- fill your mind and fill your heart with the things of God.

Let the information and emotion that comes from knowing Him, occupy every inch of space in your mind and in your heart; and the things in your mind and in your heart that cause you to stumble and stress, will be forced out by the light of Him

It is up to you what you focus on in this life. The things of God, or the things of this world.

----------

If you have your Bibles with you this morning, we’ll be taking a look at two different verses, one from the Old Testament, and one from the New----that talk about the OMNIPOTENCE of God.

Jeremiah 32:17

“Ah, Sovereign Lord, you have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and outstretched arm. Nothing is too hard for you.”

1 Peter 5:6

“Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time.”

( → → Opening Prayer ← ← )

Alright, so…our Sermon this morning, is going to be about the fact that God is “OMNIPOTENT”

Which means, that God is “all powerful”

As in, if there is something that is do-able --- --- He can do it.

He can lift mountains

Move planets

Our Old Testament verse this morning, shows us that God can CREATE planets, and galaxies, suns and stars

He can create a 1st world nation--- from a race of slaves----

He can wield the power of the nature He created, and use it to destroy nations---

He can defeat any enemy // support any weakness //

and overpower any force or entity that has and will ever exist--

Does this mean then, that God can do ANYTHING? Like...an all encompassing ANYTHING?

No.

We already talked about some of the things that God cant do, right?

He cant sin

He cant change

He cant be less or more

He cant learn

And when it comes to His power, the things He can’t do---- are only those that aren’t logical to reality.

God cant create a one-ended stick

He cant make a 4 sided triangle

Or a round square

We worship a God, whose power is only limited by Himself----

Our God, is OMNIPOTENT

----------

You see, this is something that we can all relate to, right?

Some of these things we talked about, about God---are kind of detached from us, right?

There isnt really a frame of reference for us to understand the Trinity, we just have to lay the facts down, and accept what Scripture says.

But with this one, with OMNIPOTENCE, ----we can relate to it.

We can connect lines from the concept of being all powerful-----to the reality that we arent-----and the reality that we want to be.

----------

You see----

All of us want to be the strong one

No one wants to be seen as weak and small and frail

We want to hold our head high, straighten our back and proclaim that we are the strong one-

That we may have gone through hard times that broke us down, but we have overcome those hard times, and now----

Now---- Now I am stronger than before.

Those things that have happened to me in the past, those choices i made, or the choices that other people may have made towards me-----they made me ---------- stronger.

And with good reason right? If we are more powerful, the less we will get hurt, right?

This is something that all of us have in common

We all want to be seen as powerful

Capable & strong

We want to be able to climb any mountain

Conquer any obstacle

“There is nothing in this world that can hold me down, I may stumble and fall, but that is only because I havent learned that lesson yet, but now that I have, I am stronger and better, and now I am going to press into life and BE stronger than anything that will come my way!”

We want to carve our life into the earth in such a way, that everyone around us realizes that we are a force to be reckoned with.

We mirror the words of those who built the tower of Babel in Genesis 11:4 when they said “Let us make a name for ourselves”

----------

We do whatever we can, with all of our puny human might----to be seen as strong and powerful and let everyone around us know it.

We build bigger and bigger cities ---

We invade and conquer other nations ---

We create technologies to make lives better ---

We enslave other people ---

We settle harsh environments ---

We bully and insult others ---

We explore the depths of the ocean ---

We treat people like objects ---

We send ourselves screaming into outerspace ---

We kill people, because they are a different race ---

We create masterpieces of art that ooze out our soul onto any who view them ---

We riot in our streets and burn down our cities ---

We build our families in such a way to try make them strong and powerful---and any faults or problems that surface we hold against ourselves and call ourselves failures.

We say things like:

“I am a failure as a son, a failure as a father, a failure as a mother, Ive failed my family and let them down, If I was stronger, If I was more powerful, then things would have been different------”

We do whatever we can, to feel powerful ---- to feel strong

We perceive weakness as a sign that we dont matter, and that it is only our self created, sweat of our brow, strength that we can rely upon to weather the storms that this life throws at us.

We loudly proclaim that our past weaknesses are evidence of our present strength, and that any future storm that may come at us will fail because of how strong we are!!

And this morning----if you dont already know:::::

this life will throw storms at you

Some of us have experienced these storms--------

Some of us are going through them right now------

Monsters of might and magnitude

Swirling hurricanes of grief and loss

If its the loss of a job---

Or the loss of a loved one---

If it’s the icy grip of addiction---

Or an abusive relationship---

There are dangers that lurk beyond corners of this world ---

Evil that lurks like a lion, seeking someone to devour ---

This world will use you and abuse you-----

There are challenges that will arise in your life, that will threaten your body, challenges that will threaten your integrity and your morality ----

There are dragons that await in the shadows of your life, constantly working against you, and cheering with glee when you fall ---

What will you do about it? How will you stand against future storms, when the evidence of your past proves that you fall?

Are you, yourself, strong enough to defeat the riots of anger and hate that are sweeping our country?

Are you yourself, strong enough to stand against the disease thats locking our planet down?

Are you, yourself, strong enough to fight racism, anger, lust, divorce, cancer?

Are you strong enough to fight satan himself?

Most of us try----and fail.

And were left as nothing but a shell of who we could be

Most us try---and attribute ourselves for our success, and thusly set ourselves up for an even bigger fall in the future.

When the dark hands of our enemy grab on to your life------ what will you do to stand against the onslaught of pain and hurt that he will bring you?

----------

I’d like to tell you all something this morning that any attempts to make yourself strong and powerful ----- will fail if your life is not centered around the God of all strength and power.

----------

So how do we turn to this OMNIPOTENT God of the cosmos?

That’s the question, right?

If i'm hearing that God is all powerful, and I agree that I too want to be strong and powerful---

If i'm agreeing that there have been trials in my life, that had I been a stronger person----then maybe they wouldn't have been so bad

That maybe if I was bigger, more powerful,

If I was stronger then maybe my marriage wouldnt have fallen apart

If I was stronger then maybe I would still have that job

If I was stronger then maybe my loved one wouldnt have died, my spouse would still love me, my child would still be by my side---

If I was just stronger than maybe my life would have been better---

1 Peter 5:5-7

“All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because, “God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble.” 6 Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.”

----------

If we want to rely on the endless power of God----

If we want divine strength to flow through our life, carrying us through any storm---

If we want the OMNIPOTENCE of God, to matter in our life, then we must humble ourselves before Him.

Admit your faults----

Admit your weaknesses----

Repent and turn from your sins----

Tell Him your cares and worries and doubts and fears

2nd Corinthians 12:9-10

But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. 10 That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”

Where we are weak, is where His power moves in our life.

And the more we rely on our own strength----the less we will see of His --- (((x2 x3 x4))))

Isaiah 57:15

The high and lofty one who lives in eternity, the Holy One, says this: “I live in the high and holy place with those whose spirits are contrite and humble. I restore the crushed spirit of the humble and revive the courage of those with repentant hearts.

-----------

There is an analogy, that is pretty common that fits perfectly here.

Imagine you're walking through a forest, its a forest you’ve been in a dozen times before.

The trails are familiar to you---

You recognize this hill, or that rock

There are ferns that coat the ground like a carpet

You can hear birds calling and singing to eachother

The sun peaks out from behind the swaying of a branch overhead, only to disappear again when the wind shifts

The slight breeze causes the leaves to dance too and fro

Everything is at peace

Everything is at peace, because your favorite tree is right around this next corner

Its an oak tree that you first found when you were younger

It’s a huge, massive, hundred year old monument

Youve climbed this tree--

Memorized a certain pattern in its bark that stuck out to you---

You ran away to it when things in your life wernt going the way that you wanted

You cried at its feet---

You played tag with your friends-----while running around it’s trunk

Fell asleep in the protection of its shade

Found your favorite spot in its arms

You knew, that no matter what was going on in the world around you, you could escape all of it, when you make it to the safety of its covering

But something is different-----

Something is changed-----

You can tell the closer you get, that the storm that woke you up last night, changed things-----

The thunderclap that stirred you awake, the sheets of rain and the gusts of wind did something------

The storm that you knew was coming, tore this mighty oak from the ground and sent it crashing to the earth.

Its roots exposed to the elements---- Its branches shattered and splintered----

Its trunk split and singed black---- Piles of torn leaves---------

Mounds of mangled branches twisted into unrecognizable shapes---

Hundreds of feet of strength and power, hundreds of years of strength and power---- left in a pile to be consumed by those thriving around it.

--------

And not only that, but when it fell, it took others with it-----

The other smaller trees that relied on its covering, now lay in broken heaps beneath its defeated body

The one they looked to for protection and peace, crushed them---

The promise of their bright future, destroyed in one fell swoop

Their roots that were entangled with the Oak, are now ripped from beneath them---unable to bring them the life they need to thrive and grow

The potential that these small trees once had to grow into something beautiful and powerful, was brought to nothing ------ because this oak tree could not stand the force of the storm that was brought against it.

----------

But it is not like this with Palm Trees.

Palm trees move and sway with the storms

They laugh as the winds beat and blow against them

They may lose their leaves, and their fruit---

Their bark may be stripped and their branches broken---

They may bend and shake as hurricanes beat against them ----- but that is precisely why they survive

----------

So I’d like to ask you this morning, when the storms of this life come against you, will you bend ---- or will you break?

Will you humble yourself before our OMNIPOTENT God?

Or will you stand proudly on your own strength?

Because the more you rely on your own strength,

the greater the crash will be when you fall.

And just like that might oak ------ you will take others with you

Those who have relied upon you and love you ----- will be hurt

Those who seek protection in your arms ---- will be thrown into chaos

Those whose roots are entangled with your own, will break and fall when your own are torn from beneath you

Until all that is left of your strength is a but a ghost of a memory

Look to your OMNIPOTENT God for strength, and He will never fail you

He will support you

Guide you

He will prune the dead things from your life that you have held on to

And you will be made new

If you repent of your sins and humble yourself before our God, then and only then will you be able to rely on His endless power --- --- through every step and every storm of your life.

----------------------

In Closing, I would like to read Psalm 23 ------------------------ ((Message us))

Psalm 23

1 The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.

2 He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters.

3 He restores my soul;

He leads me in the paths of righteousness

For His name’s sake.

4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,

I will fear no evil;

For You are with me;

Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.

5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies;

You anoint my head with oil;

My cup runs over.

6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me

All the days of my life;

And I will dwell in the house of the Lord Forever.

( → → Closing Prayer ← ← )