Participants:
Series Code: BOLS
Program Code: BOLS000042S
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00:06 Sermon #S023 - I'M Out Of Options - Part 1)
00:19 Pastor Snell: As you remain standing, we're going to go to a very familiar text today in Mark 5. Mark 5, 00:25 and we'll begin together here in verse 21. Mark 5, and I'll begin reading and you're hearing verse number 21. Mark 5:21, when you get there, 00:42 let me just hear you say, "Pastor, I'm ready." 00:44 Mark 5. That is the second book there in the New Testament. Mark 5, and we're beginning together at verse number 21. The Bible says, 01:00 "Now when Jesus had crossed over again by boat to the other side, a great multitude gathered to him and he was by the sea and, behold, 01:10 one of the rulers of the synagogue came, Jairus by name, and when he saw him, he fell at his feet and begged him earnestly saying, 01:18 'My daughter lies at the point of...'" What? "'Death. Come and lay your hands on her, that she may be healed, and she will live.' 01:27 So Jesus went to him and a great multitude followed him and..." what? Thronged him. 01:34 There were a lot of folks trying to get next to Jesus at this hour. Then the Bible says, 01:39 Now, a certain woman who had a flow of blood for what? Twelve years and had suffered many things from many physicians. 01:47 She spent, what? All that she had. And was no better, but she rather grew what? 01:56 "And when she heard about Jesus, she came behind Him in the crowd and touched His garment. 02:03 For she said, 'If I may touch his clothes, 02:09 I shall be made well,' and immediately, the fountain of her blood was dried up 02:15 and she felt in her body that she was healed of that affliction, 02:19 and Jesus, immediately knowing it himself that power had gone out of him, turned around in the crowd 02:27 and said, 'Who touched my clothes?' 02:30 But his disciples said unto him, you see the multitude thronging you and you say, who touched me? 02:37 And he looked around to see her who had done this thing but the woman fearing and trembling knowing what had happened to her, 02:45 came and fell down before him," and told the what? The whole truth and said unto her, "Daughter, your faith has made you well, 02:56 go in peace and be healed of your affliction." 03:01 But again, I'm going to emphasize verse 25. The Bible says, "Now a certain woman who had a flow of blood for twelve years 03:07 and had suffered many things from many physicians, she spent all that she had and was not better, but rather she grew worse." 03:20 Today, saints, I want to talk to you for a little while under the subject, "I'm out of options." I'm out of options. 03:28 Let's pray together. 03:31 Holy Spirit, in this moment of stillness, would you settle some things? Would you allow somebody's distractions to be nullified? 03:52 Would you cause the worries of life to wash away that we might be able to hear from you? So, Lord, grant us a spiritual focus. 04:02 Would you capture our attention? 04:05 And Lord, would you fill this place with your spirit in such a way that it smothers all rivaling principalities? 04:15 So, Lord, in the hearing of the word, may faith be multiplied exponentially, 04:19 hide me in the shadows of the cross that Jesus alone might be seen, that Christ alone would be heard, 04:26 and at the end of our time together made Jesus alone be praised. Let Christ be lifted, 04:32 and I pray that the kingdom of darkness would be diminished we pray in the wonderful name of Jesus. 04:36 Let them that believe say together Amen. 04:39 [Congregation: Amen] 04:41 And Amen. You may be seated in the house of the Lord today. Again, talking briefly under the subject - 04:48 I'm out of options. I'm going to allow those to slip on in and be seated. 05:05 Author Kyle Idleman wrote a book entitled The End Of Me 05:15 and the fundamental assertion is that human nature is so hardened that we will never find Jesus until we come to the end of our own 05:27 human capacity. It is a scathing indictment on human self-sufficiency and because of our bend toward self-sufficiency, 05:39 most of us will only find Jesus under some type of duress, 05:45 and the under-guiding idea is that as long as a person can think it through, figure it out, reason their way through, 05:55 afford it, borrow it, hold it together, they will not choose God. 06:01 The idea is that if a person has grown up without an orientation to faith, he will not choose God until he runs out of options. 06:12 And the truth is that even as people of faith, think about it, 06:17 some of us will not really get serious about praying until there is nothing else that we can do. 06:25 And fundamentally, we will not choose God from one of many different options. 06:31 Most of us will not choose God until he is the only option. And, friends of mine, 06:38 when options dry up, I need you to know that it is not a bad thing. 06:43 Sometimes running out of options just makes things a little bit more clear. 06:49 In fact, the reason it takes some of us so long to get dressed in the morning is we've got too many options in our closets. 06:58 But the truth is that if you only got two suits - a blue one and a black one, choosing the right thing is the easy thing to do 07:06 because you wore the blue suit last week and so you only got one option left. Are y'all hearing what the preacher is saying today? 07:13 And, in fact, the reason that your kids stand there with the refrigerator open staring at it, 07:19 that the reason it takes so long to choose what they're going to eat is because there are too many options. 07:25 But when you're down to that last frostbitten Eggo waffle and you're single MorningStar link it pretty much makes the choice for you. 07:35 Are you hearing what I'm saying? 07:37 In other words, there are some young people that don't know what person to choose because they've got too many options, 07:42 and see sometimes God has to remove some of those shiny options so that you'll consider some character options. 07:51 And see, I need somebody to know that the loss of options commences the Genesis of conversion because the truth is, 07:59 we didn't have a lot of options, we had a lot of illusions. 08:04 In other words, all you had was distractions that actually confuse you about where your help actually comes from. 08:12 And I can say this, friends, only with the clarity of hindsight that I actually thank God for the times when life crumbled 08:21 because it was the duress of life that gave me clarity about where my help actually comes from. Do I have a witness today? 08:30 That you will never know that Jesus can solve a problem if you've never had a problem. 08:38 [Congregation: Amen] 08:40 Sometimes it's the flakiness of people that leads you to the faithfulness of God. 08:44 I would not have known that God can heal if I'd never been sick, 08:50 I would have never known that God can provide if I've never had any lack. 08:55 It was in times of darkness that I learned that he is the Rose of Sharon, the bright, and morning star. 09:03 It is only when friends walked away that I came to know that he's the friend that sticks closer than a brother. 09:10 And sometimes I will never choose the best option until I realize he's the only option. And, see, friends of mine, 09:20 I need you to know that maturity takes place when you choose Jesus even when you got other options, 09:28 but you're still immature if you only choose God when there's down to your last option. 09:34 Let me say it this way. See, I remember probably about 14 years ago, I discovered, Malcolm, the power of oatmeal. 09:43 Do I get to witness out here that oatmeal will give you your help in the morning? Are y'all hearing me today? 09:48 But, see, I need you to know that the only way I discovered the power of oatmeal was one of those weeks when my wife hadn't gotten a 09:57 chance to go grocery shopping. And so there was no sweet cereal, there were no pastries, there were no doughnuts, 10:04 there were no sausage links, and the only thing left was a box of oatmeal and this is crazy. So, I get there, 10:11 I remember my mom putting a little cinnamon in it and I remember how she mixed the milk in just right, 10:17 and when I put together the oatmeal and ate it, I realized, "This tastes better than what I thought it was," 10:23 and after I ate the oatmeal I realized around 10:30, I was still full. I had a little more energy for the day 10:32 and you didn't want to know this but I found myself being more regular, can I get a witness out here today? 10:37 [Congregation: Applause] 10:39 And it's crazy, friends, that that week I got hooked on the power of oatmeal. So that even though I chose it 10:46 because it was the only option, even when my wife went shopping again, I look past the cereal, I would bypass the muffins, 10:55 I would look past the MorningStar because I realized that the only option was actually my best option 11:03 and is there anybody that can give God a Quaker praise today? In other words, God is like oatmeal. 11:11 If you're tasting, you'll see that the Lord is good. If you're stuck with him in the morning, you won't be hungry at 11:00. 11:20 And if you get some Jesus in your soul, you'll get regular. Are y'all hearing the word today? We're so consistent 11:29 because we're on honeycombs in and crunch and munch. But when you get some Jesus in your soul 11:35 and the thing I love about Jesus is he doesn't get mad that you wait until he's the last option. 11:43 He's just glad that you decided to choose him somewhere down the line. Are y'all here in the world today? 11:51 [Congregation: Applause] 11:53 Pastor Snell: And so, friends of mine, as we go back here to Mark 5, I want us to look one last time that here at verse number 26, 12:02 the Bible says, "And this woman had suffered many things from many physicians, 12:07 and she had spent all that she had and was not better, but rather she grew worse." And so, friends, 12:14 I just kind of take a few moments to unpack this today. I want to just continue this idea that we espouse 12:22 because, see, one of the things I want somebody to know is that God wants to save somebody today. 12:29 [Congregation: Amen] 12:31 Pastor Snell: But in order for God to save, 12:34 our hearts must ripen to a particular place that makes it conducive for salvation to take place and, 12:43 see, one of the things that God is doing for somebody today, 12:46 he's trying to get you to a place where certain things cannot be hidden anymore. 12:53 I knew you were going to get quiet on me but let me kind of unpack it a little bit. 12:57 The Bible says here that you have this woman who has this issue or flow of blood. In fact, 13:04 scholars agree that this woman has a severe and fatal case of what is known as menorrhagia which is essentially continual womanly 13:17 bleeding. In other words, what was supposed to happen once a month for this woman is now happening all the time, 13:26 and, see, people with this condition would go to great lengths to cover up the issue because the thing about blood is, 13:35 especially back then, that when it gathers in large portions, it leaves a stain, and when it gathers in large portion, 13:43 it gives off a smell. 13:45 And so, if you walk by, and you didn't see her issue, if you got close enough you might smell the issue. 13:53 And so what these people do is they would wrap themselves in extra garments and they would spray on extra amounts of perfume 14:02 but they didn't realize that often the more they tried to cover the issue, the more they actually disclose the issue. 14:12 And so, I need you to understand this about the disease that it was a progressive disorder so that the more the bleeding would occur, 14:21 the more expensive it would become for this woman to try and cover it up. In fact, she doesn't just pay money for treatment, 14:31 she invests a whole lot of money in making sure that other folks don't find out. And so she gets to a place, friends, 14:40 where she's got to stop coming to church to keep people from noticing the issue. 14:45 She's got to avoid some of her friends so that they don't notice the issue. She stopped showing up at girls' night 14:54 because she doesn't want them to notice the issue. And as the issue gets worse and worse, it becomes harder and harder to cover it, 15:03 and she's at a place where the concern is not just being healed, she's got a great fear of being outed. 15:12 So that if you saw this sister, you would look at her and say she's standoffish. 15:17 If you saw her in real-time, you would say she got a stank attitude. If you saw her, you would say, man, her personality is recluse. 15:24 You would look at this woman and say, man, she's just a strong sister that don't take no mess off of anybody, 15:31 but that's not really the truth. The reason she responds in this way is that for her, 15:37 it feels safer to remain at a distance than to let people know the issue that she wrestles with. 15:44 And see, friends, I need somebody to hear me today because as long as she could cover the issue, 15:51 she would never have come to Jesus. But now she's at a place where she can't afford to hide it no more. 15:59 She's run out of not just medical money, she's run out of perfume money, she's run out of additional garments. 16:07 In fact, if she could keep it composed, if she could hold it together, she would have never ever come to Jesus. 16:14 But now it's at a place where it's so bad that she can't manage the symptoms, she can't keep it a secret, 16:21 and now, this is what drives her back into the community. Are y'all with me today, friends? 16:27 And see the funny thing I need you to know is that sometimes people leave the church or they withdraw from fellowship 16:35 and sometimes they blame it on the community. But sometimes, people leave the community simply 16:42 because they're trying to hide some issues. 16:45 In other words, we can kind of say it is because of the people and the hypocrites in the church. 16:51 But I've literally seen that folks have left the church 16:55 because they're trying to cover a pregnancy that happened before the nuptials took place. 17:02 I've seen couples leave the church because they're trying to hide the fact that the marriage is beginning to fall apart 17:10 and, see, what happens is when we have issues, 17:13 we become so ashamed of the struggle that sometimes we hide and kind of get away from the community. 17:21 But understand that, for the lady, the situation is so desperate that she can't be a prisoner of perception. 17:28 In other words, it's so bad that she can't afford to care what somebody thinks. 17:33 This thing is so great that she can't be a slave to anybody's opinion. 17:37 She's at a place where she's so desperate for him that she can't worry about them. 17:44 Are y'all with me today, friends? 17:46 And, see, let me just say this, beloved, that sometimes we wrongly allow shame about our issues to drive us away from the church. 17:57 We allow shame about the issues to drive us away from Jesus. But how many of us understand that when you look at the scene today, 18:08 that everybody in the crowd has issues? 18:14 Pastor Snell: Like real talk. Anybody ever had children issues? Anybody ever had marriage issues? 18:20 Anybody ever had moral issues? Anybody ever had financial issues? I need you to know, we didn't come just because we love God. 18:29 Our issues drove us here. And, see, friends of mine, 18:33 I want to encourage somebody that's why you never get intimidated by looking at people from the outside, 18:39 it's cause you can't tell by looking at how we look today. Because the truth is we don't look like what we've been through 18:50 and, see, never get confused by how the preacher looks today because all you're seeing today is my after picture. 19:00 In other words, don't say, "Oh, he got it all together." No, you're just seeing the after picture. 19:05 But is there anybody that's in Christ that's got an after picture? But you can shout, don't be fooled, 19:12 because if you had known me then, you would see what great things the Lord can do. Are y'all hearing me today, friends? 19:20 [Congregation: Amen] 19:22 Okay. This is crazy. Literally, this week, because my kids have kind of outgrown their little kid furniture, 19:27 we have gone through the process of trying to update all the furniture in their bedrooms. And so what happened, 19:34 friends is what happened is my daughter's little dresser, we decided we're about to get rid of it, 19:40 we're going to get ready to throw it out because the knobs have come off, there were scratches all over it 19:46 but then I have a sister, Meghan King, who said, "Listen, Pastor and Gianna, don't throw it away. 19:51 Bring it to my house and let me refinish it," and she took it through a process of refinishing it 20:00 and by the time she got done with it, it looked as if it was brand new. 20:06 No, I need you to see that if you just saw it after it was done, you would think that it came that way. 20:14 But it didn't come that way, it was only looking like that after she had finished her work with it. 20:20 And what I'm saying to somebody is don't get fooled by somebody in church. They didn't come that way. 20:27 We had knobs missing, we had debts, we had scratches, we have brokenness 20:33 but we got in the hands of the master refinisher and he didn't just touch us up, he didn't just put some paint on 20:43 but he made us whole in Jesus. Are y'all hearing the word today, friends? 20:49 [Congregation: Applause] 20:52 So the first thing God has to do is he's got to get us to a place where we can't cover that thing no more. 20:58 The second thing God has to do, friends of mine, is he's got to get us to a place, friends of mine, 21:03 where you get disappointed in the options you chose. Now, friends, it's natural for this woman to go to the doctors of her time, 21:17 right? But the Bible says, friends of mine, that she goes to many different physicians. 21:23 But the Bible says that things didn't get better but things actually got worse, that she suffered many things of many physicians. 21:31 Now, I need you to get that in Greek, there is a better translation of it, whereas in the King James, it says, 21:36 she's suffered many things of many physicians, but it actually is translated, 21:40 she suffered many things of many different types of physicians. 21:46 In other words, I need you to get, friends, that this lady is not one that just goes through conventional medicine. 21:52 She is a woman that tries a whole bunch of stuff. In other words, he tries a traditional doctor. 21:59 And when that doesn't work, she tries an herbalist. And when that doesn't work, she tries a root doctor. 22:06 And when that doesn't work, she tries a witch doctor. And when that doesn't work, she tries a naturopathic doctor. 22:14 And when that doesn't work, she literally gets to a place where she is physically exhausted. 22:19 She is emotionally exhausted because everything has held out the promise that for a fee, I will make you whole. 22:29 And the Bible says she spent one-half of her earnings on trying to hide it and she spent the rest of it trying to be healed, 22:37 and no matter how many different things she tried, there was nothing that could bring relief. 22:44 She'll get her hopes up, friends of mine, only to be disappointed time and time ever again. So this woman tried every doctor. 22:52 She tried every pill. She tried every ointment. She tried every branch of medicine and not only is she financially exhausted, 23:01 she is emotionally exhausted from getting her hopes up only to have them disappointed time and time again. 23:08 But I need you to understand something about desperation. See what makes desperation dangerous is it will create an open-mindedness 23:19 to things that can bring you no relief. In other words, 23:24 being open-minded is not a bad thing but be careful about getting so desperate that you begin to open 23:30 yourself up to options that can bring you no help. Are y'all hearing me today, friends? And see, 23:36 like the woman in the story, we've gotten exhausted because we've opened ourselves up, not just to one particular thing, 23:44 we've opened ourselves up to all types of things. 23:48 And see, the reason some of us have broken or have so much brokenness is 23:52 because we've got some sisters that have opened themselves up to all types of men. 23:56 There are some that have opened themselves to all types of women. Some are trying all types of surgeries, 24:03 some are trying all types of weeds, some are trying all types of alcohol, some are trying all types of therapy, 24:12 some are trying all types of churches, some are trying all types of marriages, 24:18 and what is happening is we're trying a type of this and a type of that and life is a sample of a whole gamut of things 24:26 because we are trying to fill a spiritual void with Earthly things, and we get disappointed time and time again, 24:34 and we will never know peace until we realize that we can only be made whole in the son of God. 24:41 [Congregation: Amen] 24:43 Thank you so much for joining us for the Breath of Life Television Ministries broadcast with Pastor Debleaire Snell! 24:49 We hope and pray that you have been blessed through today's message and that you choose God as your number one option. 24:57 Join us next week for Part Two of “I'm Out of Options” You don't want to miss it! 25:05 In these current times, especially around this time of the year, we find ourselves in places where it's difficult to be thankful. 25:16 No matter how hard you try or how hard you work, there's never enough money, never enough grace, 25:29 or maybe the answers have stopped coming all together. In 1st. Thessalonians 5:18. The Bible says in everything, 25:39 give thanks for this is the will of God concerning you. 25:43 When you choose gratitude you're able to detect God's goodness in every circumstance. 25:49 When you choose gratitude, you're able to regain a lost perspective. When you choose gratitude. 25:56 It is an expression of confidence in God. It's an act of faith. And when you choose gratitude, 26:04 it revives your personal hope. I want to invite you to come and be a part of the 2022 Gratitude Project. 26:13 It's going to be in 11 days. Celebration of the Goodness of God. 26:17 I want to invite you to join me each morning at 6:30 a.m. Central Standard Time at our Breath of Life YouTube page. 26:24 Each morning there's going to be an online devotional series where I'm going to give messages on gratitude. 26:30 You're going to hear testimonies that are going to uplift you. And we're going to call on the name of the Lord. 26:35 And what we're going to do is we're going to engage in a chain reaction of gratitude, where we're going to be uplifted. 26:42 And what's going to happen is that's going to culminate on Thanksgiving morning, November the 24th, 26:48 where you can join us for our Thanksgiving special. 26:52 It's going to air at 10:30 a.m. Central Standard Time on the Breath of Life YouTube page or on our app 27:00 or through Apple TV is going to be a rich blessing. We're going to be treated with the musical ministry of Karen Clark-Sheard, 27:09 Jonathan McReynolds, and our very own John Stoddart in that special. I'm going to give you messages of hope, 27:16 and there'll be testimonies that enter you in the assurance that you've got reasons to be grateful. 27:23 I want to invite you, your family, your friends, your crew. Come get down with the Gratitude Project. 27:30 I believe that no matter how much you've lost, no matter what you've gone through, 27:35 we've got a variety of reasons to still give thanks. We're not going to focus on what we've lost. 27:42 We're going to focus on what we've received. We're not going to focus on those who are against us. 27:47 We're going to focus on the God who is for us. We're not going to focus on what's wrong with our lives. 27:55 We're going to count our blessings and number the favors that God has bestowed upon us. Get ready. Get set. 28:02 It's time for the gratitude project. 28:06 (Breath of Life Theme Music) 28:30 [end] |
Revised 2022-11-09