CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE SERMON: MEET ME IN THE DESERT

CHRIST THE ROCK CONGREGATION

SUNDAY JUNE 1ST 2014

Sermon by Rev. Marc E Simeon

MEET GOD IN THE DESERT

Genèse 21:15–20

15 Quand l’eau de l’outre fut épuisée, elle laissa l’enfant sous un des arbrisseaux,

16 et alla s’asseoir vis-à-vis, à une portée d’arc; car elle disait: Que je ne voie pas mourir mon enfant! Elle s’assit donc vis-à-vis de lui, éleva la voix et pleura.

17 Dieu entendit la voix de l’enfant; et l’ange de Dieu appela du ciel Agar, et lui dit: Qu’as-tu, Agar? Ne crains point, car Dieu a entendu la voix de l’enfant dans le lieu où il est.

18 Lève-toi, prends l’enfant, saisis-le de ta main; car je ferai de lui une grande nation.

19 Et Dieu lui ouvrit les yeux, et elle vit un puits d’eau; elle alla remplir d’eau l’outre, et donna à boire à l’enfant.

20 Dieu fut avec l’enfant, qui grandit, habita dans le désert, et devint tireur d’arc.

Recap on last week message:

“Agar a Distinctive Mother”

Recreating the scene where Agar walked away for her dying son Ishmael.

History of San Diego by Richard F. Pourade

The History of San Diego

This wonderful series of seven books covers the history of San Diego from the time of European exploration through 1970. The first book begins with Native Americans in the San Diego region before European colonization.

Baja:

“What with the fierce sun and the scorching sand, and our extreme fatigue, the air seemed soon to have extracted every particle of moisture from our bodies.  In this condition we marched on until nearly the middle of the day, without descrying any indication of water in any quarter…

“We attempted to chew tobacco.  It would raise no moisture.  We took our bullets in our mouths, and moved them round to create a moisture, to relieve our parched throats.  We had traveled but a little farther before our tongues had become so dry and swollen, that we could scarcely speak so as to be understood…

“Two of our companions here gave out, and lay down under the shade of a bush.  Their tongues were so swollen, and their eyes so sunk in their heads, that they were a spectacle to behold.  We were scarcely able, from the condition of our own mouth, to bid them an articulate farewell.  We never expected to see them again…”

History of San Diego by Richard F. Pourade

SURVEY ON DESERT DEHYDRATION

In the first stages of dehydration, an individual may not experience any significant symptoms, but as it continues, he will feel thirst set in and his mouth go dry.  If it intensifies, he will feel his thirst increase, his saliva thicken, his face flush, his skin wrinkle, his head ache, his arms and legs cramp, his strength dwindle and his temperament sour.  If his dehydration becomes severe, his tongue swells.  His eyes grow sunken and tearless, possibly cracking and bleeding.  His stomach bloats.  His hands and feet grow cool and moist.  His major muscles contract severely and painfully.  His blood pressure falls.  His urination ceases.  His pulse rate becomes feeble and rapid.  His consciousness fades.  He may experience convulsions and heart failure.  He faces death without prompt and careful rehydration

 

MEET ME IN THE DESERT

• It is interesting when you see a perfect couple; they are inseparable to each other. They raise beautiful families together; everything seems to click.
• One of the questions they are always asked is where did you two meet each other?
• Depending on how much time you have; you may be in for a long story.
• When we have rendezvous with people, it’s usually in a pleasant place: a restaurant, a mall, a library, a movie theatre, a park, etc,
• We seek environments that are suitable for pleasure and delectation, and amusement, and relaxation.
• When God is beginning to enter into a deep relationship with somebody, His favorite place for a date is in the desert.
• He met Moses in the back of the desert
• He met Jacob in a desert
• He met Elijah in the desert
• Jesus spent 40 days in the desert
• He met Hagar in the desert
• He led the Israelites to the desert
• Ex 5:3 ¶ And they said, The God of the Hebrews hath met with us: let us go, we pray thee, three days’ journey into the desert, and sacrifice unto the LORD our God; lest he fall upon us with pestilence, or with the sword.

• De 32:9 Car la portion de l’Éternel, c’est son peuple, Jacob est la part de son héritage. 10 Il l’a trouvé dans une contrée déserte, Dans une solitude aux effroyables hurlements; Il l’a entouré, il en a pris soin, Il l’a gardé comme la prunelle de son œil,

• A desert is a place of desolation.
• A desert is a training camp for the children of God
• A desert is a place of defocus on the world
• A desert is a place with the least distraction
• A desert is a place where the providence of God is tested
• A desert is a place where one’s faith is tested to the core
• A desert is a place where the presence of God can becomes tangible
• A desert is a place where virtues and characters are evaluated.
• A desert is a place where the best encounters with God will be evidenced.

We all hate deserts

• Because of the solitude
• Because of the lack of resources
• Because of the kind of beasts who live there
• Because of our gravitation for comfort
• Because we like to be in control
• Because of the survival rate there
• Because of the kind of faith it requires to endure there
• Because of the unknown
• Because of the temptations that can arise from there
• Because death is so evident there

• Yet God keeps on orchestrating situations that would lead us to the desert
• Almost every call in the ministry involves some sort of a desert
• The call of the disciple involves a cross on your back

We Fear Deserts

• Because it looks like failure, yet many people’s treasure are hidden in the desert.
• Many would hit the biggest break in their lives if they had accepted the package that included some sort of a desert.
• Many people’s destinies are in the desert.
• Since we would never head toward our desert, God would sometimes allow circumstances in our lives that leave no choices but to head for the desert.

Ishmael in the Desert

• Ishmael the son of Hagar was promised to be a great nation, but how would that happen?
• Would his mom decide it’s time to head out to the desert? No!
• Would his dad give him a tour in a desert and give him some desert survival training? No!

Uncommon and unfair situations force us to the desert

• Circumstances, unfair circumstances lead them out!
• The silence of God lead them out to the wilderness.
• The cruelty of a stepmom lead them out to the wilderness
• The social and racial discrimination lead them out to the wilderness
• The cold-heartedness of the neighbors lead them out to the wilderness.
• The injustice in the system leads them out to the wilderness.
• The double standard in the system lead them out to the wilderness;
• The lack of support lead them out to the wilderness
• No good reason can explain why a mother is released with a teenage son to face the fierceness of a desert that is certain to claim both their lives.

GOD LEADS PEOPLE TO DESERTS

• Yet not only was God silent about the situation, when He did speak, He took side with the aggressor.
• God told Abraham to go along with Sara’s plan.
• How do you explain that?
• Whenever God is perceived to be unfair: the faith of many scrambles to the ground.
• If you feel that God is against you, it would be very hard to love and honor Him in that same time.
• Hagar had no reason to believe that God cared about her and her son.
• She had every reason to believe that God thinks the same way like them.
• It was hard for Hagar to see God as a righteous God while she was handed a pink slip and no compensation for all her years of service.

GOD WAITED UNTIL THE SITUATION BECAME WORSE BEFORE HE MANIFESTED HIMSELF

I hate suspense!

Hagar was exactly where God wanted her to be at the exact appointed time.

• The location was perfect
• The timing was perfect
• The point of destitute was perfect for God
• (while Hagar departed from the child so that she would not witness his death)
• (while death was eminent and no hope survival was perceived)
• (while no human hand was able to change the course of the situation)
• God manifested Himself. He was there the whole time, He caused her to be lost in the desert.
• God has some information about the desert that Hagar does not know
• God knows where water could be found
• Maybe Hagar got lost looking for water
• She could not on her own find that water, this information would have to be revealed

 

When you are in a desert, you have to be attentive to the revelations of God.

• God had to open her eyes, and behold water was around her
• So many times we kill ourselves searching for something that is already in our midst
• God is the God of the jungle; He is also the God of the desert.
• What else did Hagar need, as far as she could see, it was free land.
• The one thing that she needed the most was potable water, and that was supplied.
• She had no need to go any further

 

• There were already some trees in the surrounding
• Been an Egyptian servant, she would have known her way in the field
• The boy was so articulate in catching bird and other beasts
• Soon thereafter they found their way to connect with other people
• Before you know it the boy married a lady and became a great statesman
• His twelve sons became chiefs
• From which a great nation was born

 

The providence of God

• What a story of the providence of God
• How now do we face our deserts?
• How now do we need to treat our disappointments?
• How now do we need to filter the odd circumstances that life throw at us?
• What if God is just using all these nonsense that are happening around you to (GPS) you to your destination?
• How now would you feel if you had abandoned your faith in the process?

 

 

PREPARE TO MEET GOD IN THE DESERT

Psaume 46

1 ¶ Dieu est pour nous un refuge et un appui, Un secours qui ne manque jamais dans la détresse.

2 (46:3) C’est pourquoi nous sommes sans crainte quand la terre est bouleversée, Et que les montagnes chancellent au cœur des mers,

3 (46:4) Quand les flots de la mer mugissent, écument, Se soulèvent jusqu’à faire trembler les montagnes. -Pause.

4 (46:5) Il est un fleuve dont les courants réjouissent la cité de Dieu, Le sanctuaire des demeures du Très-Haut.

5 (46:6) Dieu est au milieu d’elle: elle n’est point ébranlée; Dieu la secourt dès l’aube du matin.

6 ¶ (46:7) Des nations s’agitent, des royaumes s’ébranlent; Il fait entendre sa voix: la terre se fond d’épouvante.

7 (46:8) L’Éternel des armées est avec nous, Le Dieu de Jacob est pour nous une haute retraite. -Pause.

8 (46:9) Venez, contemplez les œuvres de l’Éternel, Les ravages qu’il a opérés sur la terre!

9 (46:10) C’est lui qui a fait cesser les combats jusqu’au bout de la terre; Il a brisé l’arc, et il a rompu la lance, Il a consumé par le feu les chars de guerre. –

10 (46:11) Arrêtez, et sachez que je suis Dieu: Je domine sur les nations, je domine sur la terre. –

11 (46:12) L’Éternel des armées est avec nous, Le Dieu de Jacob est pour nous une haute retraite. -Pause.