~ Jun. 30, 2009
Sunday's Sermon Notes-Complaint Free Living Pt 1
Complaint Free Living Pt. 1-Complaining in the Wilderness
Pastor Don Carter Journey Assembly of God
"Don't complain and talk about your problems-80% of people don't care; the other 20% will think you deserve them."~Mark Twain
Deuteronomy 1:26-27a (NIV)
"But you were unwilling to go up; you rebelled against the command of the LORD your God. You grumbled in your tents..."
1. Complaining is Rebellion Against God
Numbers 14:26-35 (NLT)
"Then the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, 'How long must I put up with this wicked community and its complaints about Me? Yes, I have heard the complaints the Israelites are making against Me. Now tell them this: As surely as I live, declares the Lord I will do to you the very things I heard you say. You will all drop dead in this wilderness! Because you complained against Me, every one of you who is twenty years old or older and was included in the registration will die. You will not enter and occupy the land I swore to give you. The only exceptions will be Caleb son of Jephunneh and Joshua son of Nun.
You said your children would be carried off as plunder. Well, I will bring them safely into the land, and they will enjoy what you have despised. But as for you, you will drop dead in this wilderness. And your children will be like shepherds, wandering in the wilderness for forty years. In this way, they will pay for your faithlessness, until the last of you lies dead in the wilderness.
Because your men explored the land for forty days, you must wander in the wilderness for forty years;a year for each day, suffering the consequences of your sins. Then you will discover what it is like to have Me for an enemy I, the Lord, have spoken! I will certainly do these things to every member of the community who has conspired against me. They will be destroyed here in this wilderness, and here they will die!"
Definition of a Complainer:One who complains, or expresses grief; one who laments, one who finds fault; a murmurer.
Israel's Complaints:
- Complained by the Red Sea-Exodus 14:9-12
- Complained they had no water to drink-Exodus 15:22-24
- Complained they had no bred to eat and they wanted to return to Egypt-Exodus 16:1-3
- They cried out again for water- Exodus 17:1-3
- Complained again when Moses took too long to come down from Mount Sinai and began to worship a golden calf-Exodus 32:1-4
- Three days after leaving Mount Sinai, they complained again-Numbers 10:33-11:1
- They complained about Moses' wife's skin color- Numbers 12:1
- Complained about giants in the land-Numbers 14:1-4
2. A Complaint Against a Leader is Actually a Complaint Against God
Exodus 16:8
"The Lord hears your complaints which you make against Him. And what are we? Your complaints are not against us (leadership) but against the Lord."
When we complaining against the people in our church who are diligently serving the Lord we are actually complaining against God.
3. Our Complaining affects those around us.
4. The Lord urges us to learn from the complaining of the Israelites.
1 Corinthians 10:5, 9-11(NIV)
"God was not pleased with most of them (the Israelites); their bodies were scattered over the desert...We should not test the Lord, as some of them did—and were killed by snakes. And do not grumble, as some of them did—and were killed by the destroying angel.These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us."
Luke 12:3 (NKJV)
"Therefore whatever you have spoken in the dark will be heard in the light, and what you have spoken in the ear in inner rooms will be proclaimed on the housetops."
5. Complaining get God mad.
Numbers 11:1a (NKJV)
"Now when the people complained, it displeased the LORD; for the LORD heard it, and His anger was aroused."
6. Complaining stops when we meditate on the right thing...
Philippians 4:8 (KJV)
"Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things."
"We can complain because rosebushes bear thorns, OR we can complain because thorn bushes bear roses."~A.L. Todd
7. We all need to change our outlook on life.
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~ Jun. 30, 2009
New Feature
Starting this week, I am adding a new feature to this blog "Sunday's Sermon Notes". Here I will write out the notes from Sunday's sermon at Journey Assembly of God in Bradenton, FL. This is a multi-purpose feature. I will dig deeper into the message so that I can share it with you and hopefully you will in turn be blessed by the message. You can always feel free to visit our website at www.journeyassembly.org.
