Vibe Check 6 – Patience

 

Welcome to Redemption Church in Plano Tx. I am glad you are here! My name is Chris Fluitt and I love the Lord and I love His Church.

We are in the 6th week of our sermon series – Vibe Check

What is a Vibe?

Vibe – A person’s emotional state, felt by others; The tangible atmosphere created by the disposition of our being.

As Christians, it is not enough to carry our belief inside our heart. The love of God is meant to be shed abroad by the Holy Spirit in our heart (Romans 5:5). Our good works should flow out of our heart, and people should see our good works and glorify our Father in Heaven (Matthew 5:16).

Vibe Check

The worst vibes come from the flesh.

The best vibes come from the Spirit.
Galatians 5:22 (NIV) But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.

 

 

Fruit of the Spirit

Love, Joy, Peace – Heart

Patience, Kindness, Goodness – Relationships

Faithfulness, Gentleness, Self Control – Battles

We have discussed Love, Joy, and Peace – the vibes that should reside in your heart.

Last week Marshal preached a great message on faithfulness and how to respond when you think Jesus is failing the vibe check.

Today I want to talk to you about the vibe of patience.

Patience

Patience is not usually our favorite word or subject.

LET’S BE HONEST – Who here is willing to admit they have trouble with patience.

Patience is a vibe of the Spirit.  The God that is working in you, desires to bring patience into your thoughts, words, and actions.

How you treat people matters.
How you treat people reveals your vibe.
How you treat others reveals the health of your relationship with God.

James 5:7-11 (NIV) 7 Be patient, then, brothers and sisters, until the Lord’s coming. See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop, patiently waiting for the autumn and spring rains. 8 You too, be patient and stand firm, because the Lord’s coming is near. 9 Don’t grumble against one another, brothers and sisters, or you will be judged. The Judge is standing at the door!

10 Brothers and sisters, as an example of patience in the face of suffering, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. 11 As you know, we count as blessed those who have persevered. You have heard of Job’s perseverance and have seen what the Lord finally brought about. The Lord is full of compassion and mercy.

Here Is our definition of patience

Patience – the perspective of grace & faith that enables us to suffer hardship and endure injustice, while trusting that God will make all things right.

Simply put, patience is waiting.

I am able to wait for God’s best.
I am able to wait for others to progress in God.

Want to be loving… Have patience.
Want to be like God… Have patience.
 

In 15th century Japan there is a legend of a Shogun warrior with a broken bowl. Evidently the bowl meant something to the Shogun, and he refused to throw it out, but instead sought a craftsman to fix the bowl.

Kintsugi – gold fixing

The craftsman put a golden color within the adhesive and then covered the bowl in a new lacquer seal.  

By embracing the flaws and imperfections, the craftsman created a more beautiful piece of art.

 

!!! Legend has it that God loves broken people, and instead of throwing them out, he seeks to create beauty, restoration, and purpose within them.

If you will allow God the craftsman to work, He will take your broken pieces, mistakes, and flaws, and God will cover them in grace and infuse them with beauty and power of His Spirit.

God the craftsman is patient.  God is graceful and faithful.

Some of the people in the Church that you think have a beautiful walk with God, an attractive life, and a healthy family that might cause you to say “why can’t I have that?”

Look closer…

• That gold you see used to be cracks.
• That strength you see, used to be weakness.
• Here is what is so attractive and beautiful in that life – patience.
• Time in an altar.
• Day after day in the Word.
• Repeated moments of repentance.
• A God who refused to throw them away.
• A Child of God who patiently waited on God to work.

I want you to turn back to our scripture in James 5. There are some things to learn straight from this text.

Patience waits for what is valuable 

James 5:7 (NIV) 7 Be patient, then, brothers and sisters, until the Lord’s coming. See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop, patiently waiting for the autumn and spring rains.

The farmer waits for the valuable crop.

DON’T FORGET – you are waiting on something that is valuable.

Galatiens 6:9 (NIV) 9 Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.

People give up when they are tired and when they lose sight of the value.
People give up when they want to hurry the process.

Valuable things in life take time to harvest.

Plant a Bamboo Tree

Year 1 – No Growth

Year 2 – zip

Year 3 – nada

Year 4 – looks like a failure to grow

Year 5 – Grow 90 feet in a week.

Don’t give up on the bamboo tree in year 4.

If you have been patiently waiting on God, DO NOT QUIT NOW.

God can SUDDENLY bring it to pass and you do not want to miss out.

Patience waits for what is valuable.

Patience waits for the Lord to make things right

Do not repay evil for evil. Romans 12:17
Vengeance is mine says the Lord. I will repay. Deuteronomy 32:35

We don’t strike back.
We will wait for God to make things right.

1 Peter 3:22 (Message) Jesus has the last word on everything and everyone, from angels to armies. He’s standing right alongside God, and what he says goes.

“Jesus, you have the last word on that…”

No need to get defensive when the Lord is your defender.

James 5:8 (NIV) 8 You too, be patient and stand firm, because the Lord’s coming is near.

Jesus is coming back and He has the last word on EVRYTHING and EVERYONE!

The Lord will return and make everything right.

Patience waits for what is valuable.
Patience waits for the Lord to make things right.

Patience does not grumble

It is not graceful and faithful to grumble as you wait.

Do you know what a grumble is? How about a murmur?

A Christian author in the 1600s gave us some thoughts on this.

Grumbling groans of the flesh – Thomas Manton (1600s)
Complaint
Distrust
Vindictive
Envious

There are grumbling groans that come from the flesh. And these are bad vibes.

James 5:9 (NIV) 9 Don’t grumble against one another, brothers and sisters, or you will be judged. The Judge is standing at the door!

Instead, turn your grumblings into prayer and the spirit will produce another kind of groan.

Romans 8:26-27 (NIV) 26 In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. 27 And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God.

There is a place where there are no words for the agony you feel.
There is a place where you can not adequately describe to God how you feel.
There are situations where you aren’t even sure how to pray…

“The Spirit Himself intercedes for us through wordless groans.”

We are not groaning AT GOD… not complaining, distrusting, seeking revenge, or envy… We are groaning our pain, our confusion, our overwhelmed heart TO GOD.

There is a place where a kindergarten prayer won’t cut it… “now I law me down to sleep…”

There is a deep place in the Spirit that goes beyond words…

It is Biblical to speak in tongues!  But what are you saying? Vs 27 says the Spirit knows!

It is Biblical to give up on words and groan before God. The Spirit knows.

Are we patiently praying?  What is the Vibe of your prayer life? Do you want to go deeper?

Patience – the perspective of grace & faith that enables us to suffer hardship and endure injustice, while trusting that God will make all things right.

We have wonderful Biblical examples of patience.

James 5:10-11 (NIV) 10 Brothers and sisters, as an example of patience in the face of suffering, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. 11 As you know, we count as blessed those who have persevered. You have heard of Job’s perseverance and have seen what the Lord finally brought about. The Lord is full of compassion and mercy.

The prophets who spoke the name of the Lord, yet in their lifetime never say Jesus walk on Earth.
Job, who persevered and saw what the Lord finally brought about.

The common thread is that both the prophets and Job believed the messiah was coming!
Church do we believe in the return of our Messiah, Jesus Christ?

Vibe Check

Patience waits for what is valuable.  Is that your vibe?
Patience waits for the Lord to make things right.  Is that your vibe?
Patience does not grumble at God but goes deeper in the Spirit in prayer. Is that Your Vibe?

Kintsugi – gold fixing

As we come and pray, I want you to picture that Kintsugi gold fixing method.

Some of us need to work at viewing ourselves as this bowl.
Some of us need to work at viewing others as this bowl.

“A man is a hero, not because he is braver than anyone else, but because he is brave for ten minutes longer.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

Can you wait 10 minutes longer?