Announcements

<b>Saturday, January 28, 2017 @ 11:00 am</b><br> Women's Ministry Meeting<br> Krazy Kup Restaurant<br> 101 E J Arden Mays Blvd<br> Plant City, FL 33563<br><br><b>Sunday, February 5, 2017 @ 9:00 am</b><br><i> "Super Sunday" </i>Wear your favorite NFL team jersey or any sports jersey <br> you love! Come and hear Pastor D's special sermon <i>"For the Love of the </i><br><i>Game!"</i><br><br><b>Saturday, February 11, 2017 @ 11 am - 1:00 pm</b><br><i>"Random Acts of Kindness Day" </i>Join us to spread the love of Jesus <br> Christ and TSC in the Brandon Community. <b>Details to follow.</b><br><br><b>Sunday, February 12, 2017 @ 9:00 am</b><br><i> "Spread Love Sunday"</i> Join us in "<b>RED</b>" on this special Sunday before<br> Valentine's Day!

Don't Lose Heart - Sermon Notes

<b>Don’t Lose Heart</b><br><b>Pastor David Mobley</b><br><br>The Sanctuary Church<br>January 22, 2017<br>9:00 AM Service<br><br><i><b>Luke 18 - New King James Version (NKJV)</b></i><br><i><b>The Parable of the Persistent Widow</b></i><br><i><b>18 Then He spoke a parable to them, that men always ought to pray and not lose heart, </b></i><br><i><b>2 saying: “There was in a certain city a judge who did not fear God nor regard man. </b></i><br><i><b>3 Now there was a widow in that city; and she came to him, saying, ‘Get justice for me from my adversary.’ </b></i><br><i><b>4 And he would not for a while; but afterward he said within himself, ‘Though I do not fear God nor regard man, </b></i><br><i><b>5 yet because this widow troubles me I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me.’”</b></i><br><i><b>6 Then the Lord said, “Hear what the unjust judge said. </b></i><br><i><b>7 And shall God not avenge His own elect who cry out day and night to Him, though He bears long with them? </b></i><br><i><b>8 I tell you that He will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?”</b></i><br><br>Jesus purposefully tells the disciples in this text a parable that’s only focused on praying all the time and not losing heart as you continue in prayer. We can all pry wonderful, poetic and beautiful prayers but can we do that over and over and over and over again until God answers? <br>I want to remind you this morning, don’t lose heart!<br><br>There are three different personalities we need to consider as we look at this text today. <br><b>1. Unjust Judge</b><br>· First of all this seems quite strange and out of place according to the Jewish customs during this time. <br>· Jewish law demands that a judge must be just and must have reverence for God. <br>· Look at verse 2 again. <br>2 saying: “There was in a certain city a judge who did not fear God nor regard man. <br>· Jesus tells this parable to his disciples to remind them that circumstances in your life may seem unjust, they may seem impossible, matter a fact they are outright unusual and almost ridiculous but it doesn’t mean that God cannot use the most ridiculous, unjust, thing, person, circumstance or situation to bless you.<br><b>· Don’t lose heart! </b><br><br><br><b>2. Unyielding Widow</b><br><i><b>3 Now there was a widow in that city; and she came to him, saying, ‘Get justice for me from my adversary.’ </b></i><br><i><b>4 And he would not for a while; but afterward he said within himself, ‘Though I do not fear God nor regard man, </b></i><br><i><b>5 yet because this widow troubles me I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me.”</b></i><br>· This widow comes back to the judge over and over again requesting her case to be heard and asking for the wrong against her to be made right. <br>· We need to look more closely at her cause to better understand this Unyielding widow woman.<br>· First of all, being a widow woman cause her to be in a very vulnerable place during those times. <br>· And now here she is with a court case as well. And it had to be a pretty bad case because during those time people couldn’t just bring a civil case before the judge it had to be something criminal! <br>· Jesus uses this parable and the personality of the unyielding widow to parallel how we need to keep coming before our Heavenly Father asking Him over and over again. That’s why we fast and pray and pray and pray! <br>· Some scholars, Christians and all kinds of people try to say or will tell you that if you ask God again and again or keeping asking God for whatever it is, you don’t have faith!<br>· But let me set the record straight today! That’s not true period!!<br>· Matter a fact, Jesus at the Garden of Gethsemane prayed and wnet ack to check on His disciples and of course they were sleeping, Jesus said, “can’t you stay awake for an hour while I pray?”<br>· Then the bible says, the Word of truth says, Jesus went back up and prayed the same prayer!<br>· Sound like to me the Author and Finisher of my faith prayed over and over again for the same thing until he got an answer!<br>· So, if you are praying over and over again, it’s not a sign that you don’t have faith, it’s just the opposite, it’s a sign that because of your hanging on in there, because you refuse to let go until God blesses you, because you perservere, it’s a sign of your faith! <br>· You have enough faith in God that whatever His answer may be yes or no, move forward or wait a little longer, go right or go left, speak or be quiet, come what may, it’s still yes and I have faith that God will take care of me regardless! <br>· He simply wants us to be unyielding in our pursuit of Him! Always pray and Don’t Lose Heart!<br><br><br><b>3. Unparalleled God</b><br><b><i>6 Then the Lord said, “Hear what the unjust judge said. </i></b><br><b><i>7 And shall God not avenge His own elect who cry out day and night to Him, though He bears long with them? </i></b><br><b><i>8 I tell you that He will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?”</i></b><br>· Jesus says if an unjust judge will hear you then what about an unparalleled God, what about our just God!<br>· Matter a fact Jesus says, this is why you shouldn’t lose heart, because God will avenge you and me speedily. <br>· We have an unparalleled God!<br>· A God who is like no other<br>· A God who is a just God<br>· A God who is a forgiving God<br>· Our God who is the lifter up of our heads<br>· Our God who is our strength and refuge, a very present help in the time of trouble<br>· Our God who is Sovereign<br>· God who is our father which art in heaven<br>· God who gives us this day and our daily bread<br>· A god who hears us all at the same time.<br>· He is an unparalleled God!<br>Take a look at Jesus’s final question in this parable in verse 8. When the Son of man comes, will he really find faith on the earth? <br>Will He find us praying and not losing heart. People with faith don’t lose heart! <br><br>It’s often easy to look at “successful” people and think that it’s all come easily to them. In many cases this is not what happened. <br>· Colonel Sanders went to more than 1,000 places trying to sell his chicken recipe before he found an interested buyer. <br>· Thomas Edison tried almost 10,000 times before he succeeded in creating the electric light.<br><br>· The original business plan for what was to become Federal Express was given a failing grade on Fred Smith’s college exam. And, in the early days, their employees would cash their pay checks at retail stores, rather than banks. This meant it would take longer for the money to clear, thereby giving Fed Ex more time to cover their payroll.<br>· Sylvester Stallone had been turned down a thousand times by agents and was down to his last $600 before he found a company that would produce Rocky. The rest is history!<br>· Ray Kroc, the late founder of McDonalds, knew this too. “Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence” he once said. “Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with great talent. Genius will not. Un-rewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not. The world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence in prayer, determination and love are unstoppable.”<br>· Don’t lose heart. We have a week to go with our Corporate fast and if you haven’t joined us, you can start right now. <br><b>· Don’t Lose Heart!</b>

Ministry Statement

<br>Every Member Growing, Every Member Giving, Every Member Going.<br><br>

Our Mission

<br>The Sanctuary Church provides opportunities for spiritual growth through worship, study, prayer, fellowship and service. <br><br>To accomplish our mission we A.L.T.E.R. our Attitude, Love, Teamwork, Expression, and Relevance so that others may become disciples of Jesus Christ. We alter our attitude, the position we take on family, life, responsibility, study and church. We alter our love, the position we take on God’s love according to John 3:16, love for God, self and all mankind. We alter our teamwork, the position we take on serving with excellence, collaboration, consideration, communication, and organization. We alter our expression, the position we take on praising, worshipping and giving to God through our time, talent and treasure. We alter our relevance, the position we take on God’s response to matters at hand in our present world and our response to this present age of believers and non-believers.

Vision Statement

The vision of The Sanctuary Church is to be the most visible, accessible and comprehensive ministry in Central Florida.