PREACHED:OL,1-04-03,AM

 

“BUILDING MOMENTUM”

 

INTRODUCTION

1   DEFINITION

 

        A.     Recognizable

 

                1.     Talk about it a lot…

 

        B.     But difficult to define

 

                1.     Attitude?

                        Action?

                        Circumstances?

                        Combination?

 

C.     WEBSTER: “Force or speed of movement; impetus…”

 

1.     IMPETUS: “Moving force; impulse; stimulus…the force with which a moving body tends to maintain its velocity and overcome resistance; energy in motion. L: An attack, a rushing into…”

 

2   IMPLICATIONS

 

        A.     Greatly influences…    

 

                1.     Athletics -

 

a.     Less talented defeats a better team…

 

 

                2.     National politics -

 

a.     Candidates often win because of changing momentum…

 

                3.     Economic stability -

 

a.     Stock market especially vulnerable…

 

        B.     Affected by…

 

1.                Events

 

a.     “Nine eleven”…

 

                        b.     Federal reserve reports…

 

                        c.      National media…

 

1)     Negative or positive reporting…

 

2.     Sudden Changes

 

a.     Changing Coaches or losing key players…

 

                        b.     Collapse of Enron…

 

                        c.      Death of a strong church leader…

 

                3.     Most Affected by Attitudes…

 

a.     Attitude of looking for best or worst…

 

b.     Attitude of leaders affects followers…

 

1)     Report of 10 spies,                    Num 13:25ff

 

c.                 Attitudes often determine how we respond to events…

 

d.     Attitudes influence our decisions or lack of them…

3   GREAT BIBLE EXAMPLE OF MOMENTUM

 

        A.     II Kings 18:1-8

 

B.     Life recorded in II Kings 16-20, II Chronicles 28-32 and Isaiah 36-39.

 

C.     His grandson, Josiah…described in similar way…

 

        D.     He was a momentum builder in…

 

1.     Religious reformer - II Chr 29, 30, 31.

                        a.     Purified the temple

                                       

b.     Restored temple worship

 

c.      Proclaimed a national Passover celebration in Jerusalem

 

d.     Reorganized scriptural priesthood

 

e.     Rebuilt honor and responsibility!

 

f.      Called the nation back to her religious roots!!

 

g.     Helped Judah see her past glory and inspired a desire to see it again!

 

D.     Great National and international leader -

 

1.     II Chr 32:23. “…he was exalted in the sight of all nations…”

 

2.     Vs 33. “And Hezekiah slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the upper part of the tombs of the sons of David, and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem did him honor at his death.”

 

        E.     Domestic and military leader -

 

                1.     Brought Prosperity and Victory…

4  HEZEKIAH—3 LESSONS…MOMENTUM:

 

        A.     How Momentum is built

                How Momentum is lost

                How Momentum is sustained

       

B.                Great Application to the church:

 

1.                Importance of great leadership…

 

2.     Importance of understanding…

 

        C.     This lesson: “How Momentum is Built”

 

                1.     How did Hezekiah build momentum?

DISCUSSION

 

Œ   By complete Obedience to God’s Will

 

A.     II Chr 31:20,21. “…he did what was good and right and faithful before the Lord God. And every work that he undertook in the service of the house of God and in accordance with the law and the commandments, seeking his God, he did with all his heart, and prospered.”

 

        B.     Momentum is always lost when we disobey!

 

1.     Gal 5:7. “You were running well. Who hindered you from obeying the truth?”

 

a.     1:6. “I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you into the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel—“

 

C.     BEJAMIN FRANKLIN: “Let thy child’s first lesson be obedience, and the second will be what thou wilt.”

 

1.     HE ALSO SAID, “He that cannot obey, cannot command.”

 

D.     God has always blessed the obedient and dispossessed the rebellious!

 

Ť   By Reliance on God’s Power not Will Power

 

A.     After the king of Assyria had conquered Samaria and took Israel captive, he turned his attention to Judah.

 

                1.     Laid siege to major Judean cities…

 

a.     II Chr 32:2. “…Hezekiah saw that Sennacherib had come and intended to fight against Jerusalem…”

 

2.     Hezekiah fortified the city and inspired the people:

 

a.     II Chr 32:7,8. “’Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or dismayed before the King of Assyria and all the horde that is with him, for there are more with us than with him. With him is the arm of flesh, but with us is the Lord our God, to help us and to fight our battles.’ And the people took confidence from the words of Hezekiah king of Judah.”

 

B.     Jer 17:5-8. “Cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his strength, whose heart turns away from the Lord. He is like a shrub in the desert, and shall not see any good come. He shall dwell in the parched places of the wilderness, in an uninhabited salt land. Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose trust is in the Lord. He is like a tree planted by water, that sends out its roots by the stream, and does not fear when heat comes, for its leaves remain green, and it is not anxious for in the year of drought it does not cease to bear fruit.”

 

1.     As a church which would we rather be—a tumble weed or a Live Oak? A Stink Plant or Apple Tree? 

 

Ž    By Humility in Accomplishments

 

1.     II Chr 32:24,25. “In those days Hezekiah became sick and was at the point of death, and he prayed to the Lord, and he answered him and gave him a sign. But Hezekiah did not make return according to the benefit done to him, for his heart was proud. Therefore, wrath came upon him and Judah and Jerusalem.”

 

a.                How?

 

1)     Envoys came from the king of Babylon…

 

2)     Isa 39:5,6. “Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, ‘Hear the word of the Lord of hosts: Behold, the days are coming, when all that is in your house, and that which your fathers have stored up till this day, shall be carried to Babylon. Nothing shall be left, says the Lord. And some of your own sons, who will come from you, whom you father, shall be taken away, and they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.”

 

x   By Dependence and Cooperation with others

 

A.     II Chr 32:2,3. “And when Hezekiah saw that Sennacherib had come and intended to fight against Jerusalem, he planned with his officers and his mighty men…”

 

B.     II Chr 29:3,4. “In the first year of his reign, in the first month, he opened the doors of the house of the Lord and repaired them. He brought the priests and the Levites and assembled them in the square on the east and said to them, ‘Hear me, Levites! Now consecrate yourselves and consecrate the house of the Lord, the God of your fathers, and carry out the filth from the Holy Place.”

 

C.     Hezekiah needed help and so do we to maintain the momentum as a church or in our lives individually!

 

1.                Heb 10:24,25.

 

CONCLUSION

 

1&  In 2004, let’s all commit ourselves to build our spiritual momentum by:

 

A.                A spirit of complete obedience

 

A reliance on God’s power not our own

 

An acknowledgement of God as our benefactor and not pride in self

 

An attitude of support, encouragement and cooperation