Tired of this Corona C.R.A.P.
In this sermon we hear inspirational stories of faith.
James Greer
May 3, 2020 28m
In this sermon Pastor James talks about this Corona C.R.A.P. The C is for control. God is in control. The R is for reset our priorities. The A is for adapt and adjust what we are doing. The P is for prepared. We need to be prepared by accepting God into our heart. We need to be praying for peace in our lives. Video recorded at Pineville, Louisiana.
TranscriptionmessageRegarding Grammar:
This is a transcription of the sermon. People speak differently than they write, and there are common colloquialisms in this transcript that sound good when spoken, and look like bad grammar when written.
This is a transcription of the sermon. People speak differently than they write, and there are common colloquialisms in this transcript that sound good when spoken, and look like bad grammar when written.
James Greer (00:00):
Well, good morning Journey Church. We've got an unusual title this morning. Some are about tired of this Corona crap. Well, I can tell you, really what I say. I'm about tired of this Corona crap. I want you to know that each letter stands for something that's going to help us deal with a crisis. When I say. I'm about tired of this, I'm about tired of not coming to church. Amen? So, next Sunday we're going to have a mother's day celebration in the parking lot. So, we want you to come. There'll be special singing, there'll be a gift for your mother. So, next Sunday everybody come. Let's go. Just have a fantastic parking lot celebration.
James Greer (01:05):
I'm about tired for the seniors. If you're a senior and you're graduating this year and you're part of Journey Church, Hey man, this Friday night we're going to have a senior drive-thru celebration. And if you're a senior and you're a member of Journey Church, call pastor Richie and get some information. It's still not too late to get in this Friday night. We're just going to celebrate. We don't have to give into this Corona crap. I'm about tired of not being able to come to church all together. So, after Mother's day, we're going to start figuring out how to have some small gatherings within the sanctuary. A little at a time. We're going to have to be careful. We're going to wear masks. We're going to be six feet apart, but we're going to actually have some people in church. We got a few people here today. Amen? Hey man, that is so exciting to say amen and hear people say amen. And I know online you can even say amen at your house.
James Greer (01:56):
Man, it's our goal to start turning this Corona crap into a challenge that God will change our character. And when he changes our character, it turns us into being conquerors. So, we're going to go from Corona crap to conquerors in Christ. In fact, our verse this week, we've had a verse every week. This week is going to be Romans 8:37 yet in all these things, all these things, all the crisis that we go through, really the message today is not so much about Corona. It's going to be how to deal with crisis. Because we're going to have crisis, we've had crisis, we're going to have crisis and there will be crisis. So, on all the crisis and all the things that we're more than conquerors through him who loves us. So, really if I was going to tell you about the message and we're going to go through the C R A P it was going to be to learn how to deal with crisis.
James Greer (03:08):
Man, our church people are going through some crisis right now. And if you're talking about crisis and you're talking about the C word, I've never seen so many our members that have cancer. You talk about crisis. One of our members that who we just love Janice Ryland, and she just got a report back from her tumor and it's cancer. And then she's going to go to MD Anderson and she knows is critical. That's a crisis. So, when I'm talking about a crisis today, and I'm talking about dealing with the Corona crisis, I'm really talking about how can we learn to deal with the crisis period. I mean, how do you handle it? Sometimes I want to curse it, but I want to learn to be calm. So, when you see the letter C, you can say, well I can just cuss when I have a crisis. Or I can learn to be calm when I have a crisis.
James Greer (03:10):
I'm going to tell you, some of the people at our church that are going through crisis, could actually write this message better than I. They're calmer than I would be when they heard that they had cancer. Whether it's Ashley and Fred or Tony and Janet, or Kenny Valentine, who just got home and out of the hospital. Or especially, Randy and Janice Ryland. I mean, they should be writing the message because they are going through some of the greatest crisis they'll ever face in their life. And we're talking about Corona.
James Greer (04:31):
I want you to know the principles that you can learn today will apply to any crisis that you ever faced in your life. This will not be the first crisis. It's the first crisis that we face like this, but it will not be our last crisis. I want to stop allowing the crisis to drive me crazy and make me complain. I want to learn to be calm even during the crisis. I don't want it to control me. I want to learn to control myself. And there's only one way to stay calm during a crisis. And you have to understand, no matter what the crisis is you're going through, no matter what the crisis I'm going through is, God's in control of every crisis. I thought that's easy to say when I'm the one that doesn't have cancer, but I'm watching them walk through it. In all the years I've been in the ministry, I've never seen so many people practice. God's grace is sufficient. I've never seen so many members of our church have cancer at the same time, young people. I had another one call me this week and jokingly when I saw the phone ring, I said, you better call me. I texted you this week and you didn't answer. And they said, yeah, my husband told me to call you and then told me what they had. And it was one more to add to the list.
James Greer (06:13):
What's your number one? I want you to understand that no matter what you're facing right now, God is in control. He's in control of the crisis. In Colossians 1:17 puts it this way, it says, and he who is God, Jesus Christ. He's before all things and he him all things through him. All things consist, are held together, he holds together everything and all things are beforehand. In Revelations 4:11 says this, you're worthy, oh Lord, you're worthy of to receive glory and honor and power for you. You created all things and by your will they exist. And they were created. In other words, he's totally in control of everything in the world. He created everything. Everything exists. He holds it all together. So, first thing you got to understand is God is in control. Second thing, and you could say, well, I know that, but you do it, we pray. So, we say God's in control.
James Greer (07:10):
Number two, we should still pray. Philippians 4:6-8, we know it, but we had a practice that be anxious for nothing, but in everything in prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let our request be made known unto God. What is our request? God, that we could have peace with surpasses all understanding. It will guard our hearts and our minds through Jesus Christ. Man, we got to take control of our minds and we do that. How do we do it? Finally, my brother and by what we think on, think on what's true, what's noble, what's just, what's pure. So, we've got to start thinking on what's lovely. Whatever thing is a good report. We've got to control what we think it was praiseworthy. And we meditate on these things. We control our mind and we do not let our mind control us. So number one, we say when God is in control. Number two, we pray.
James Greer (08:28):
Number three. We encourage others, even though we ourselves often need encouragement. Why do we do that? One, because the Bible tells us to and two, because when we encourage other people we get encouraged. 2 Corinthians 13 the last half of the verse says, our responsibility is to encourage. One of the Christian's responsibility is to encourage other people, but the strange thing is when you start encouraging others, you're going to find out. It encourages you. I'll tell you when you go out and you visit other people, when you go to the hospital, when you go see other people in need, when you leave, you're the one that ends up being encouraged.
James Greer (08:52):
1 Thessalonians 4:1 puts it this way. It says, brothers and sisters, we taught you how to live in a way that pleases God and you're living that way. Now, we ask you and encourage you in the Lord Jesus to live that way. Even now, he said, I'm encouraging you to do this. 1 Thessalonians 4:18 says, so do this so comfort and encourage others with this news. God said, listen, I want you to be encouraged. Encourage one another. When you're going through this times. When people are discouraged, you be an encouragement Christians. And one of the reasons we come to church, one of the reasons we need to come back together. Well, the reason we need a gathering, well, the reason we need to see each other. One of the reasons we at least need to be in the parking lot, next Sunday at least we can honk the horns and we can wave at each other.
James Greer (09:47):
Hebrews 10 25 says, don't neglect our church meetings. Now listen, until we can do that, we need to be online. We need to encourage each other, but we need to be back together. Don't neglect it as some people do, but encourage, warn each other, especially as we know the days of coming, Jesus coming back and slim. One of the purposes coming to church is to encourage each other. That's why it's so important that we come back together and we get into church and we encourage each other. Why do we need to encourage each other? Because when we encourage others, we get encouraged. The Bible says in Galatians 6:7 it says, don't be deceived. God is not mocked. Whatever a man sows, he'll reap. When you're encouraging, you get encouraged. Luke 6:38, which is one of the favorite verses in the Bible. It says, give and it shall be given you. It doesn't say what a good measure pressed down, shaken together and running over will be given back to you into your bosom. And same measure you shall give, you should be measured by. You cannot out give God. That's one of our core values. So, what do you do? So God's in control. We pray and we encourage other people that helps us stay calm. That's the C.
James Greer (11:13):
Then there's the letter R. What can we learn from the letter R we can learn that we don't have to rush. And many times we need to be a time that we just reset our lives, reset our relationships with God and our family. Most of all reset our priorities. Did you know if we reset our priorities and we got our priorities right, it would take care of most of our problems. Right priorities will take care of almost every problem in our life. That's the Matthew 6:33 principle. Right priorities take care of most of the problems.
James Greer (11:54):
Before the Corona, seriously, I thought I had to rush everywhere I went, even though it was not a rush. One of the things I'm learning now is I really don't have to rush and I can't rush. Everything still gets done. It reminds you, the world goes on without you. You're not holding the world together, because you're not rushing around. You see how much you're not in control, that God's in control. Can I tell you something? If you're still rushing around now you're letting the Corona control you instead of Christ.
James Greer (12:28):
Take time to reset. Reset emotionally, reset spiritually. Rest, Psalm 46:10, one verse it says, be still know that I'm God. I'll be exalted above the nations, even above the earth. I like the new century version it says, calm down. When you calm down, you'll learn that I am God. All the nations on earth, they're going to honor me. The Lord all powerful is with us. God said, I'm with you. I'm the all-powerful. But let me tell you something that you need to learn.
James Greer (13:37):
I've learned it over and over now. God nudges me and he reminds me, there's an insight. This we will learn to rest and know God or God will cause us to rest and know God. You with me, you're going to learn the rest and know God or God will cause us to rest and know God. The Psalms, Psalms 23:2.3, It says this, he makes me to lie down in green pastures. In other words, if you don't lie down and you don't rest, he makes me to lie down beside still waters. Then he restores my soul. He makes me lie down. Why does he make me lie down? Because he wants me to restore my soul and then he leads me the path of righteousness for his names sake. So, see one of the reasons that I don't have to worry too much about the Corona C because now I can rest, I can stop rushing and I can relax.
James Greer (14:31):
So, we had C for calm. We have R for, I don't have to rush. Time for me to reset my priorities. We've got an A. Man, A for adapt and adjust. Oh man, am I having to adapt? Zoom, zoom, zoom. Zoom at 11 o'clock in the morning. I zoom during the week. I zoom for staff meeting. Now, I didn't even know zoom before this. I'm having to learn to zoom for my whole life. I think I like things to say the same. I like routines okay. But, you still have to learn to adapt and adjust. And when you can't adapt and you can't change, it begins to drive you crazy.
James Greer (14:52):
But let me tell you what happened. I wrote it down that morning that this happened. It was April the 23rd, 6:45 AM. I get a call from a man in Bunkey. He says, your building has just been hit by a tornado. I said, is anybody hurt. No. I said, do you think you all are going to be able to go back to work? This man rents the building. He says, I don't know. He said, well, I got to get CLICO here first. Though one of the front buildings are completely gone and there's some holes in the building. I said, well, I'll tell you what, I'll get a hold of the insurance people and you see what you can do. He just says, okay. I was sitting there for a while. I called him back. I said, hey, you're the insurance person. When you rented the building, you were supposed to pay for the insurance on the building. He said, yeah. He says with the Corona and the quarantine, I had to make a choice, pay the payroll or pay the insurance, and I paid my people. I hadn't been paying the insurance. So I said, in other words, you didn't pay for the insurance on the building, and so we don't have insurance. They said, yes sir, that's correct.
James Greer (16:41):
So I say, here's the Corona crap. I can go crazy and I'm in the middle of writing this message, or I can try to stay calm. So I said, listen, I'm going to go back and practice point 1, and I actually really did this. And I went back and I said, God, you're in control. There is a crisis here and you're in control. Colossians 1:17 said, he's before all things and he heals all things together. So God, you're in control. Number two, God, I am going to pray, I'm going to pray and I'm going to ask you what to do. I'm saying, God you're in control. What should I do? And you said, hey, make sure you don't have any insurance. Check and see how much it costs to fix it. Do your best and let me do the rest. And a miracle happened. I was calm, I absolutely calmed down. And it was, it was strange because I know I should have been panicking. I knew I should have been cussing, but I was calm.
James Greer (17:51):
I knew the bill had been hit by a tornado. I knew the guy, I didn't even get upset with the man, I want to cuss in for not paying the insurance and tell him. But, I didn't. Two or three days later, that's not the end of the story. We called and talked to one of the ladies at work and she said, when it came up for a renewal, I forgot to drop it. You still have insurance. I said, God took care of it. Amen That's the rest of the story. But the real miracle was that God allowed me to be calm, before I even knew we had the insurance, even during the crisis, because why? I said, God's in control. I prayed about it. I let him do my best. I let God take care of the rest. See, there's going to be change. The faster we learn to adjust and adapt, the sooner we can stay calm. So, now we understand that God's in control. The sooner that we will be calmer, the more we try to control it, the more out of control that it gets. So, we got C for calm, we got R for rush, stop rushing and reset. We got A for adapt and adjust.
James Greer (19:12):
And then we got P. Well, got to be better prepared. Boy do we need to be better prepared? I keep going back to Janice because before she went in to the hospital, her husband went into the hospital, he had the Corona virus and she said, I want you to make sure you're prepared and right with God. Little does she know a few weeks later she would be in the hospital and have to be prepared and to be right with God. And she was, every one of us needs to be prepared.
James Greer (19:51):
I think we never dreamed that we'd be quarantined, that we'd be wearing mask, that we weren't being able to go to church, that virtually the government's almost in control, like right now. They're telling us what to do, where we can go and what to do. Are you prepared spiritually? when this came about, were you prepared financially? For three years I've been preaching, would you please live off the 1010 80 principle? Would you tithe 10%? Would you save 10% and would you live off 80%? Do you know, if the last three years, if you've been doing that, you would still be okay right now financially. Do you know, I'm so proud of our church. I understand that most churches are in a crisis right now and I love our people. And you all been so faithful that you all been tithing online and sometimes they just bring their tithe checks up to the church, and that's just unbelievable.
James Greer (21:00):
So I don't want to take you for granted. I thank you for that, and I love you for that, and you are faithful for that, and God's blessed us because of that. Be prepared though. Be prepared physically, emotionally, but most of all be prepared spiritually. All these people are much, much younger than I and cancer has touched their lives. Matthew 24:40 says this, it says there's two men will be working together in the field. One's going to be taken, the other one left. There's going to be two women they're going about their household tasks. One's going to be taken, the other one's left. So be prepared. You don't know the day that the Lord is coming. You don't know the day that the cancer's going to strike. You don't know the day that's going to be the last day. You don't know when God's going to call you home. You don't know the minutes. It's going to be your last minute, so be prepared. You just don't know.
James Greer (22:07):
The P is to be prepared. 1 Peter 3:15 says this, honor Christ. Let him be the Lord of your life. How do we honor Christ? Let him be the Lord of our life. Not just the savior of your life, but the Lord of your life. Be over the controller of your life. Always be ready to give an answer. When somebody asks about your hope, what is your hope? My hope is in the Lord. Ask all these people in our church, what is your hope? My hope is in God. My hope is in the next life, my hope is in him. It's a confident expectation that he's in control of anything and everything that's going to happen. He's the Lord of my life. He's already prepared. We need to be prepared. God's already prepared. What is he prepared? 1 Corinthians 2:9, I thought I got a text yesterday from Shane McDaniels. His mother went to be the Lord and God had already prepared a place for her. For it is written, eyes have not seen, our ears have heard, are entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love him. Judy masters, one of our members just the other day, her husband went in to wake her up and she didn't wake up and she's in heaven now, but God had already prepared a place for her.
James Greer (23:41):
Prepared a place that eyes have not seen, ears have not heard neither entered into the heart of man. The things was God has prepared for those that love to see. God is prepared, but God wants us to be prepared when it's our time to go there, but until then he wants us to be prepared and how to handle a crisis. He wants us to be calm because he wants you to know that he's in control. Do you know that because he is the Lord of your life, that God is in control of your life.
James Greer (24:11):
Do you need to accept him into your life, not only as your Savior, maybe today that you need to say, God, I need you to take control of my life. Have you been rushing and you need to reset your life right now? Do you need to reprioritize your life? You can get your priorities right because when your priorities are right, then most of your problems would be taken care of. Do you need to adjust or adapt your life? Life is going to change. You've got to change and adapt your life. Now, Jesus is not going to change. Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever. You've got to know. Colossians 1:17 but God's before everything and he holds everything together. So, you just adjust and adapt.
James Greer (25:01):
Are you prepared? Would you like to prepare today? Would you like to prepare by inviting him into your heart as your Lord and savior? Would you like to prepare by making sure you're right with your friends and your family? Would you like to prepare to make sure if you needed to say something to your loved ones that today was the day that you would do that? Would you like to prepare to say, Hey, if there's a burden on your heart today, you would like to give that burden to the Lord. Hey, whatever God's laid upon your heart, give it to him today as we pray.
James Greer (25:46):
Father, I just thank you for your son, Jesus Christ. I thank you that you've taught us how to go through a crisis, that you're in control of anything and everything. There's nothing outside of your control. I want to pray for so many of those in our family and they're going through a crisis right now. Many of them have cancer, God and that you would bring a strange calmness. I pray for those that are online, God, that they could feel your power and your presence. God right now I pray for those that need peace, your peace. God, most of all, God, I pray for those that don't know Jesus Christ as their personal Savior, that they would just pray something like this. God. I just know I'm a sinner. I pray that you for give me of my sins. I pray that you would come into my heart. God, I pray you'd take me to heaven one day. If you prayed that let us know. God, those that need a prayer request, God, I pray that they would let us know today those that need to join the church almost every Sunday. We have people join online. You can do that today if you need somebody to pray with you. Whatever you need, I pray that you let God have his will and his way. It's in the precious name of Jesus we pray. Amen.
James Greer (27:13):
On behalf of pastor James, thank you for joining us this morning in our worship service at journey church. We all have next steps. If at any time during this message you felt led to accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and savior, click on the link below and allow pastor James to walk you through the plan of salvation. If you would like to be a part of one of our online small groups, become a member or get baptized. Click on the link below and follow the instructions. If you're wanting someone to pray with you, click the link below. We have people on standby right now wanting to pray with you and for you. We also have a dynamic children's church. Click the link below and enter. The children will love and enjoy our children's worship service. I'm asking you at this time to give to the ministries of Journey Church. Click on the link below and whenever the Lord has laid on your heart at Journey Church, we also believe in not just coming to church, but going out and being the church, so go out and be the church. We are so glad this morning that you joined us.
Recorded in Pineville, Louisiana.
Well, good morning Journey Church. We've got an unusual title this morning. Some are about tired of this Corona crap. Well, I can tell you, really what I say. I'm about tired of this Corona crap. I want you to know that each letter stands for something that's going to help us deal with a crisis. When I say. I'm about tired of this, I'm about tired of not coming to church. Amen? So, next Sunday we're going to have a mother's day celebration in the parking lot. So, we want you to come. There'll be special singing, there'll be a gift for your mother. So, next Sunday everybody come. Let's go. Just have a fantastic parking lot celebration.
James Greer (01:05):
I'm about tired for the seniors. If you're a senior and you're graduating this year and you're part of Journey Church, Hey man, this Friday night we're going to have a senior drive-thru celebration. And if you're a senior and you're a member of Journey Church, call pastor Richie and get some information. It's still not too late to get in this Friday night. We're just going to celebrate. We don't have to give into this Corona crap. I'm about tired of not being able to come to church all together. So, after Mother's day, we're going to start figuring out how to have some small gatherings within the sanctuary. A little at a time. We're going to have to be careful. We're going to wear masks. We're going to be six feet apart, but we're going to actually have some people in church. We got a few people here today. Amen? Hey man, that is so exciting to say amen and hear people say amen. And I know online you can even say amen at your house.
James Greer (01:56):
Man, it's our goal to start turning this Corona crap into a challenge that God will change our character. And when he changes our character, it turns us into being conquerors. So, we're going to go from Corona crap to conquerors in Christ. In fact, our verse this week, we've had a verse every week. This week is going to be Romans 8:37 yet in all these things, all these things, all the crisis that we go through, really the message today is not so much about Corona. It's going to be how to deal with crisis. Because we're going to have crisis, we've had crisis, we're going to have crisis and there will be crisis. So, on all the crisis and all the things that we're more than conquerors through him who loves us. So, really if I was going to tell you about the message and we're going to go through the C R A P it was going to be to learn how to deal with crisis.
James Greer (03:08):
Man, our church people are going through some crisis right now. And if you're talking about crisis and you're talking about the C word, I've never seen so many our members that have cancer. You talk about crisis. One of our members that who we just love Janice Ryland, and she just got a report back from her tumor and it's cancer. And then she's going to go to MD Anderson and she knows is critical. That's a crisis. So, when I'm talking about a crisis today, and I'm talking about dealing with the Corona crisis, I'm really talking about how can we learn to deal with the crisis period. I mean, how do you handle it? Sometimes I want to curse it, but I want to learn to be calm. So, when you see the letter C, you can say, well I can just cuss when I have a crisis. Or I can learn to be calm when I have a crisis.
James Greer (03:10):
I'm going to tell you, some of the people at our church that are going through crisis, could actually write this message better than I. They're calmer than I would be when they heard that they had cancer. Whether it's Ashley and Fred or Tony and Janet, or Kenny Valentine, who just got home and out of the hospital. Or especially, Randy and Janice Ryland. I mean, they should be writing the message because they are going through some of the greatest crisis they'll ever face in their life. And we're talking about Corona.
James Greer (04:31):
I want you to know the principles that you can learn today will apply to any crisis that you ever faced in your life. This will not be the first crisis. It's the first crisis that we face like this, but it will not be our last crisis. I want to stop allowing the crisis to drive me crazy and make me complain. I want to learn to be calm even during the crisis. I don't want it to control me. I want to learn to control myself. And there's only one way to stay calm during a crisis. And you have to understand, no matter what the crisis is you're going through, no matter what the crisis I'm going through is, God's in control of every crisis. I thought that's easy to say when I'm the one that doesn't have cancer, but I'm watching them walk through it. In all the years I've been in the ministry, I've never seen so many people practice. God's grace is sufficient. I've never seen so many members of our church have cancer at the same time, young people. I had another one call me this week and jokingly when I saw the phone ring, I said, you better call me. I texted you this week and you didn't answer. And they said, yeah, my husband told me to call you and then told me what they had. And it was one more to add to the list.
James Greer (06:13):
What's your number one? I want you to understand that no matter what you're facing right now, God is in control. He's in control of the crisis. In Colossians 1:17 puts it this way, it says, and he who is God, Jesus Christ. He's before all things and he him all things through him. All things consist, are held together, he holds together everything and all things are beforehand. In Revelations 4:11 says this, you're worthy, oh Lord, you're worthy of to receive glory and honor and power for you. You created all things and by your will they exist. And they were created. In other words, he's totally in control of everything in the world. He created everything. Everything exists. He holds it all together. So, first thing you got to understand is God is in control. Second thing, and you could say, well, I know that, but you do it, we pray. So, we say God's in control.
James Greer (07:10):
Number two, we should still pray. Philippians 4:6-8, we know it, but we had a practice that be anxious for nothing, but in everything in prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let our request be made known unto God. What is our request? God, that we could have peace with surpasses all understanding. It will guard our hearts and our minds through Jesus Christ. Man, we got to take control of our minds and we do that. How do we do it? Finally, my brother and by what we think on, think on what's true, what's noble, what's just, what's pure. So, we've got to start thinking on what's lovely. Whatever thing is a good report. We've got to control what we think it was praiseworthy. And we meditate on these things. We control our mind and we do not let our mind control us. So number one, we say when God is in control. Number two, we pray.
James Greer (08:28):
Number three. We encourage others, even though we ourselves often need encouragement. Why do we do that? One, because the Bible tells us to and two, because when we encourage other people we get encouraged. 2 Corinthians 13 the last half of the verse says, our responsibility is to encourage. One of the Christian's responsibility is to encourage other people, but the strange thing is when you start encouraging others, you're going to find out. It encourages you. I'll tell you when you go out and you visit other people, when you go to the hospital, when you go see other people in need, when you leave, you're the one that ends up being encouraged.
James Greer (08:52):
1 Thessalonians 4:1 puts it this way. It says, brothers and sisters, we taught you how to live in a way that pleases God and you're living that way. Now, we ask you and encourage you in the Lord Jesus to live that way. Even now, he said, I'm encouraging you to do this. 1 Thessalonians 4:18 says, so do this so comfort and encourage others with this news. God said, listen, I want you to be encouraged. Encourage one another. When you're going through this times. When people are discouraged, you be an encouragement Christians. And one of the reasons we come to church, one of the reasons we need to come back together. Well, the reason we need a gathering, well, the reason we need to see each other. One of the reasons we at least need to be in the parking lot, next Sunday at least we can honk the horns and we can wave at each other.
James Greer (09:47):
Hebrews 10 25 says, don't neglect our church meetings. Now listen, until we can do that, we need to be online. We need to encourage each other, but we need to be back together. Don't neglect it as some people do, but encourage, warn each other, especially as we know the days of coming, Jesus coming back and slim. One of the purposes coming to church is to encourage each other. That's why it's so important that we come back together and we get into church and we encourage each other. Why do we need to encourage each other? Because when we encourage others, we get encouraged. The Bible says in Galatians 6:7 it says, don't be deceived. God is not mocked. Whatever a man sows, he'll reap. When you're encouraging, you get encouraged. Luke 6:38, which is one of the favorite verses in the Bible. It says, give and it shall be given you. It doesn't say what a good measure pressed down, shaken together and running over will be given back to you into your bosom. And same measure you shall give, you should be measured by. You cannot out give God. That's one of our core values. So, what do you do? So God's in control. We pray and we encourage other people that helps us stay calm. That's the C.
James Greer (11:13):
Then there's the letter R. What can we learn from the letter R we can learn that we don't have to rush. And many times we need to be a time that we just reset our lives, reset our relationships with God and our family. Most of all reset our priorities. Did you know if we reset our priorities and we got our priorities right, it would take care of most of our problems. Right priorities will take care of almost every problem in our life. That's the Matthew 6:33 principle. Right priorities take care of most of the problems.
James Greer (11:54):
Before the Corona, seriously, I thought I had to rush everywhere I went, even though it was not a rush. One of the things I'm learning now is I really don't have to rush and I can't rush. Everything still gets done. It reminds you, the world goes on without you. You're not holding the world together, because you're not rushing around. You see how much you're not in control, that God's in control. Can I tell you something? If you're still rushing around now you're letting the Corona control you instead of Christ.
James Greer (12:28):
Take time to reset. Reset emotionally, reset spiritually. Rest, Psalm 46:10, one verse it says, be still know that I'm God. I'll be exalted above the nations, even above the earth. I like the new century version it says, calm down. When you calm down, you'll learn that I am God. All the nations on earth, they're going to honor me. The Lord all powerful is with us. God said, I'm with you. I'm the all-powerful. But let me tell you something that you need to learn.
James Greer (13:37):
I've learned it over and over now. God nudges me and he reminds me, there's an insight. This we will learn to rest and know God or God will cause us to rest and know God. You with me, you're going to learn the rest and know God or God will cause us to rest and know God. The Psalms, Psalms 23:2.3, It says this, he makes me to lie down in green pastures. In other words, if you don't lie down and you don't rest, he makes me to lie down beside still waters. Then he restores my soul. He makes me lie down. Why does he make me lie down? Because he wants me to restore my soul and then he leads me the path of righteousness for his names sake. So, see one of the reasons that I don't have to worry too much about the Corona C because now I can rest, I can stop rushing and I can relax.
James Greer (14:31):
So, we had C for calm. We have R for, I don't have to rush. Time for me to reset my priorities. We've got an A. Man, A for adapt and adjust. Oh man, am I having to adapt? Zoom, zoom, zoom. Zoom at 11 o'clock in the morning. I zoom during the week. I zoom for staff meeting. Now, I didn't even know zoom before this. I'm having to learn to zoom for my whole life. I think I like things to say the same. I like routines okay. But, you still have to learn to adapt and adjust. And when you can't adapt and you can't change, it begins to drive you crazy.
James Greer (14:52):
But let me tell you what happened. I wrote it down that morning that this happened. It was April the 23rd, 6:45 AM. I get a call from a man in Bunkey. He says, your building has just been hit by a tornado. I said, is anybody hurt. No. I said, do you think you all are going to be able to go back to work? This man rents the building. He says, I don't know. He said, well, I got to get CLICO here first. Though one of the front buildings are completely gone and there's some holes in the building. I said, well, I'll tell you what, I'll get a hold of the insurance people and you see what you can do. He just says, okay. I was sitting there for a while. I called him back. I said, hey, you're the insurance person. When you rented the building, you were supposed to pay for the insurance on the building. He said, yeah. He says with the Corona and the quarantine, I had to make a choice, pay the payroll or pay the insurance, and I paid my people. I hadn't been paying the insurance. So I said, in other words, you didn't pay for the insurance on the building, and so we don't have insurance. They said, yes sir, that's correct.
James Greer (16:41):
So I say, here's the Corona crap. I can go crazy and I'm in the middle of writing this message, or I can try to stay calm. So I said, listen, I'm going to go back and practice point 1, and I actually really did this. And I went back and I said, God, you're in control. There is a crisis here and you're in control. Colossians 1:17 said, he's before all things and he heals all things together. So God, you're in control. Number two, God, I am going to pray, I'm going to pray and I'm going to ask you what to do. I'm saying, God you're in control. What should I do? And you said, hey, make sure you don't have any insurance. Check and see how much it costs to fix it. Do your best and let me do the rest. And a miracle happened. I was calm, I absolutely calmed down. And it was, it was strange because I know I should have been panicking. I knew I should have been cussing, but I was calm.
James Greer (17:51):
I knew the bill had been hit by a tornado. I knew the guy, I didn't even get upset with the man, I want to cuss in for not paying the insurance and tell him. But, I didn't. Two or three days later, that's not the end of the story. We called and talked to one of the ladies at work and she said, when it came up for a renewal, I forgot to drop it. You still have insurance. I said, God took care of it. Amen That's the rest of the story. But the real miracle was that God allowed me to be calm, before I even knew we had the insurance, even during the crisis, because why? I said, God's in control. I prayed about it. I let him do my best. I let God take care of the rest. See, there's going to be change. The faster we learn to adjust and adapt, the sooner we can stay calm. So, now we understand that God's in control. The sooner that we will be calmer, the more we try to control it, the more out of control that it gets. So, we got C for calm, we got R for rush, stop rushing and reset. We got A for adapt and adjust.
James Greer (19:12):
And then we got P. Well, got to be better prepared. Boy do we need to be better prepared? I keep going back to Janice because before she went in to the hospital, her husband went into the hospital, he had the Corona virus and she said, I want you to make sure you're prepared and right with God. Little does she know a few weeks later she would be in the hospital and have to be prepared and to be right with God. And she was, every one of us needs to be prepared.
James Greer (19:51):
I think we never dreamed that we'd be quarantined, that we'd be wearing mask, that we weren't being able to go to church, that virtually the government's almost in control, like right now. They're telling us what to do, where we can go and what to do. Are you prepared spiritually? when this came about, were you prepared financially? For three years I've been preaching, would you please live off the 1010 80 principle? Would you tithe 10%? Would you save 10% and would you live off 80%? Do you know, if the last three years, if you've been doing that, you would still be okay right now financially. Do you know, I'm so proud of our church. I understand that most churches are in a crisis right now and I love our people. And you all been so faithful that you all been tithing online and sometimes they just bring their tithe checks up to the church, and that's just unbelievable.
James Greer (21:00):
So I don't want to take you for granted. I thank you for that, and I love you for that, and you are faithful for that, and God's blessed us because of that. Be prepared though. Be prepared physically, emotionally, but most of all be prepared spiritually. All these people are much, much younger than I and cancer has touched their lives. Matthew 24:40 says this, it says there's two men will be working together in the field. One's going to be taken, the other one left. There's going to be two women they're going about their household tasks. One's going to be taken, the other one's left. So be prepared. You don't know the day that the Lord is coming. You don't know the day that the cancer's going to strike. You don't know the day that's going to be the last day. You don't know when God's going to call you home. You don't know the minutes. It's going to be your last minute, so be prepared. You just don't know.
James Greer (22:07):
The P is to be prepared. 1 Peter 3:15 says this, honor Christ. Let him be the Lord of your life. How do we honor Christ? Let him be the Lord of our life. Not just the savior of your life, but the Lord of your life. Be over the controller of your life. Always be ready to give an answer. When somebody asks about your hope, what is your hope? My hope is in the Lord. Ask all these people in our church, what is your hope? My hope is in God. My hope is in the next life, my hope is in him. It's a confident expectation that he's in control of anything and everything that's going to happen. He's the Lord of my life. He's already prepared. We need to be prepared. God's already prepared. What is he prepared? 1 Corinthians 2:9, I thought I got a text yesterday from Shane McDaniels. His mother went to be the Lord and God had already prepared a place for her. For it is written, eyes have not seen, our ears have heard, are entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love him. Judy masters, one of our members just the other day, her husband went in to wake her up and she didn't wake up and she's in heaven now, but God had already prepared a place for her.
James Greer (23:41):
Prepared a place that eyes have not seen, ears have not heard neither entered into the heart of man. The things was God has prepared for those that love to see. God is prepared, but God wants us to be prepared when it's our time to go there, but until then he wants us to be prepared and how to handle a crisis. He wants us to be calm because he wants you to know that he's in control. Do you know that because he is the Lord of your life, that God is in control of your life.
James Greer (24:11):
Do you need to accept him into your life, not only as your Savior, maybe today that you need to say, God, I need you to take control of my life. Have you been rushing and you need to reset your life right now? Do you need to reprioritize your life? You can get your priorities right because when your priorities are right, then most of your problems would be taken care of. Do you need to adjust or adapt your life? Life is going to change. You've got to change and adapt your life. Now, Jesus is not going to change. Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever. You've got to know. Colossians 1:17 but God's before everything and he holds everything together. So, you just adjust and adapt.
James Greer (25:01):
Are you prepared? Would you like to prepare today? Would you like to prepare by inviting him into your heart as your Lord and savior? Would you like to prepare by making sure you're right with your friends and your family? Would you like to prepare to make sure if you needed to say something to your loved ones that today was the day that you would do that? Would you like to prepare to say, Hey, if there's a burden on your heart today, you would like to give that burden to the Lord. Hey, whatever God's laid upon your heart, give it to him today as we pray.
James Greer (25:46):
Father, I just thank you for your son, Jesus Christ. I thank you that you've taught us how to go through a crisis, that you're in control of anything and everything. There's nothing outside of your control. I want to pray for so many of those in our family and they're going through a crisis right now. Many of them have cancer, God and that you would bring a strange calmness. I pray for those that are online, God, that they could feel your power and your presence. God right now I pray for those that need peace, your peace. God, most of all, God, I pray for those that don't know Jesus Christ as their personal Savior, that they would just pray something like this. God. I just know I'm a sinner. I pray that you for give me of my sins. I pray that you would come into my heart. God, I pray you'd take me to heaven one day. If you prayed that let us know. God, those that need a prayer request, God, I pray that they would let us know today those that need to join the church almost every Sunday. We have people join online. You can do that today if you need somebody to pray with you. Whatever you need, I pray that you let God have his will and his way. It's in the precious name of Jesus we pray. Amen.
James Greer (27:13):
On behalf of pastor James, thank you for joining us this morning in our worship service at journey church. We all have next steps. If at any time during this message you felt led to accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and savior, click on the link below and allow pastor James to walk you through the plan of salvation. If you would like to be a part of one of our online small groups, become a member or get baptized. Click on the link below and follow the instructions. If you're wanting someone to pray with you, click the link below. We have people on standby right now wanting to pray with you and for you. We also have a dynamic children's church. Click the link below and enter. The children will love and enjoy our children's worship service. I'm asking you at this time to give to the ministries of Journey Church. Click on the link below and whenever the Lord has laid on your heart at Journey Church, we also believe in not just coming to church, but going out and being the church, so go out and be the church. We are so glad this morning that you joined us.
Recorded in Pineville, Louisiana.
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