Hebrews 12:1-2 - Excess Baggage Sermon by Pastor J

The importance of letting go of excess baggage in the Christian life

The devil's constant attack and the need to stay ahead

The concept of a great cloud of witnesses and their impact on our lives

The need to lay aside every weight and the negative thoughts that hold us back

Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Sometimes what we do is we carry a lot of bags, right? And baggage is a good thing if you're going to go on vacation. You know, pack up all the bags, get all the comforts at home, or at least some of the comforts at home, take them along with you, right? You get your stuff, you know. You know, a lot of times when we're out, I mean, I have to carry so much stuff when I'm out. I've got to carry my phone. I've got to carry my wallet. I've got to carry all this type of stuff. I've got to carry all the stuff with me. I've got to carry a bag of treats because it takes jasmine with me, so I've got to put that in my pocket. So by the time it's all said and done, I've got all kinds of stuff in my pockets and I'm bored. all wore down walking around with all this stuff. I got all this excess baggage, right? And that's kind of what we do. Ladies, you know what that's like. And you see, some women I've seen, they got these bags of bits. It almost looks like a suitcase, man. And you sit there and you see them, they got this thing slung over their shoulder and it's like this big. And you sit there and you wonder, it's like, wow, what in the world do you have What is all this in here? It's big enough for a dog. You put the dog in there. I'm telling you, it's crazy. But that's what we do. We put all this stuff in there. And it's true. It's like, do we need all this stuff? It's the same way with the Christian experience. We have so much excess baggage that kind of weighs us down sometimes. So we need to think about it sometimes. Do we need to carry all this excess stuff with us? because the idea is we're running a race. And I find it amazing that if you watch a person that's running a race, they have very little on. They wear the short shorts, they wear the tank tops, they wear the shoes, and that's basically it. Because the more stuff you've got, the faster you can run. You need the less amount because the more you've got on, the less faster or the slower you go, if you will. And we need to stay ahead of the devil, right? The devil is right on our heels all the time. All the time. He's after us every single day. If I was to ask you today, and I'm not going to do that, but I'm just saying, if I was to ask you today, has the devil been after you this week? I bet everybody would say, oh yeah. Oh yeah, right? Because the devil is constantly after us. So that's why we've got to keep ahead of him. We've got to keep moving. We've got to keep going. We can't allow him to get close to us. We've got to keep running. We've got to keep running. And I love what Paul wrote here in Hebrews chapter 12, starting in verse 1. He said, Wherefore, seeing we are compassed about by so great a cloud of witnesses? The idea of compass to bow means to be surrounded. Surrounded. And we are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses. What does it mean to be a great cloud of witnesses? It means people that have gone on before us. There are many people, many Christians that have gone on before us. There have been great men and women of the Bible We can go through it And we're not going to do that But we can go all through the Bible Talk about the great men and women of the Bible You can talk about Paul You can talk about Debra You can talk about Ruth You can talk about Joseph You can talk about so many of them And we're not going to do that But I'm just saying Great men and women of the Bible that have been witnesses to us and their stories are right here for us to read, to talk about, to know about. And they are our witnesses. Let's go a step further though. Many great men and women in the church are our witnesses. I mean many great men and women all throughout the times. And probably my greatest witness was my dad. I mean, that was my greatest witness. Because I watched him not only in the church, but at home. And I could see his life both inside the church and outside the church. And that is the major thing. Because we can live one way here. But what are we living like when we get out there? It's a whole different thing, right? We're living two different ways. A lot of Christians live two different ways. they come in church they say all the right words they sing all the songs they know all the words to the song they lift their hands in praise they do all that but when they go outside the church the words that they say don't match up with the words that they said in church right their life doesn't match up but oh for those great men and women that do match up those great men and women that have been witnesses for us, that we know beyond a shadow of a doubt were godly men and women, that showed us the way to home. I think so many of them, I think probably the one that I think of most in this church is dear Martha. Oh, Martha. She's such a sweet little lady. And I love Martha always sitting on the front row right there and just sitting there, and she was always such a worker. Wow, such a worker. And you know, you can just depend on her. You can just depend on her. These are witnesses. We're surrounded by the witnesses. They're all showing us the way. They've shown us the way to home. I love that. We're surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses. He says, let us lay aside every weight. We carry around the excess baggage. That's what we're doing. all the time. We have that excess baggage. What excess baggage? I know you're probably saying that there. What excess baggage am I carrying around, Pastor? What excess baggage do I carry around? Worry. Fears. Unresolved issues. Uh-oh. Now we're getting a little closer to home. What about negative thoughts? Hmm. Now you get in the middle of the bridge. You know, it's true though. These are things that we carry around. We carry around things with people that have said something against us. And we just can't forgive them. Because oh, they said something and it hurt my feelings and I'm going to carry that to my grave. That excess baggage You don need it it going to drag you down We carry around the negative thoughts We get up first thing in the morning and we go oh, well, now it's another day. I wonder what's going to go wrong today. Right? That's the mindset of a lot of Christians. Get up first thing in the morning. Well, I wonder what today's going to hold. I wonder what kind of problem I'm going to have today. Something's going to go wrong. I didn't know it. Right? That's kind of what we do. Interestingly enough, our final thought of the day yesterday on our radio show was this, and it is really cool. Just one positive thought in the morning can change your whole day. And that's true. You've got to have a positive thought in the morning. Get it first thing in the morning and have a positive thought that says, you know what, today's going to be a good day. when's the last time when you got up first thing in the morning you said wow I'm excited to see what today holds what does God have for me today when's the last time we had that kind of a thought most of the time we get up in the morning we go it's morning again I could have slept all day that's kind of what we do I've been there I know what that is I had those days where you sit there and you go and you see the sun coming up and you're going, oh no! The sun came up already. Oh no! I gotta get up out of bed. I know what that is. I know what that's like. But the idea is this. We gotta have a positive thought. When the sun comes up tomorrow, Lord, I'll still be praising you. Amen? That's all we need to be doing? Go into bed, praise the Lord. Get not still, praise the Lord. That's the way we need to live. Get rid of that excess baggage of the fears and the worry and the doubt and all the negative thoughts and the past issues with other people. Get rid of all that stuff because it's just excess baggage that is dragging us down. These things are like weights that get around our neck. Back in the day, I don't do it too much anymore, but back in the day, I was a kid of the 80s and 90s. So I was like, you know. And many of you remember back in the day, it was a big thing for somebody like, you know, Mr. Keegan. So everybody liked to have the chains, right? All the different types of chains, the pendants, all that type of stuff, right? So I have pictures of me. I used to wear all kinds of chains and all kinds of stuff. And I wore probably about 10 to 15 of them, right? I'm not just wearing them all. Well, let me tell you, I'm going to be down. And it takes a lot of work because it's like, okay, you've got to put this one on. You've got to put this one on. Okay, now the next one goes on. Okay, now the next one goes on. And we're sitting there having all these jeans on, right? And that's exactly what it is with our excess baggage. Every single solitary morning, what do we do? We get up and we go, okay, worry. I'm going to put you on. All right, fear. I'm going to put you on. Oh, my past issues with so-and-so. Well, I'll put that on, too. And you know what? My negative thoughts. Well, I'll put that on, too. And then before long, you're standing around doing this, and I'm walking around like this. You're all stooped over. You're all hunched over because you're all lowered down and weighed down by all these excess banks that you don't need. that's why he says lay aside the weight and the sin which is so easily beset us I like that word beset the word beset is a verb it means trouble or threatening persistently I like that where does the besetting nature comes from. Where does that come from? It comes from Satan. Satan's the one that brings that. He's the one that tells us all the time, oh, well, you know what? Let me tell you something. If you have an issue with somebody, somebody has something against you, what does the Bible say you should do about that? If somebody is mad at you, not you're mad at them, but if If somebody's mad at you, what does the Bible say you should do? It says go and talk to them. Try to resolve that issue. That's what it says. It doesn't say get mad at them and show it back to them. Be as mad to them as they are to you. It doesn't say that. It says if your brother has all against you, go to him. That's difficult. That's difficult. Pastor, hey man, are you Do you realize how difficult that is? Yes Yes I do Yes I do know how difficult that is To forgive I know how difficult that is Because I had somebody do something to me That was very, very, very, very, very bad And I'm not going into detail on it But something that they said To me In front of people that embarrassed me very bad And I harbored a lot of bitterness for a long time about that. But when I came back to God, God had to work on me a little bit with that. It didn't just automatically just go, and it was over. Oh, no, no, no, no, no, no. It took a little bit of time softening me up a little bit, softening my heart up a little bit. it's interesting because it went a long time little bit by little bit by little bit to where I was harboring a lot of bitterness to not so much to being able to at least look at the person to eventually going to where I could talk to the person and now I actually love the person it's unbelievable that's not me that's God that's what that is and I know what it is to have that I know when if somebody has done something to you and it hurts and it makes you just look at that person and go boy I don't know I know what that is but that's a weight that gets around our neck and it pulls us down these are things we can't allow because if we do it is going to upset us it's going to destroy us it's going to send us away from God That's why Satan brings these things up to us every single day. When God was working on me with this issue, you think Satan didn't bring that up to me every single day? Hey, you know what they said. Hey, you remember what they said. And I kept having to say, Lord, I don't want to focus on this. Help me not to focus on this, God. Do something. Take this away from me because I don't want to do this. it's unbelievable but that's the power of God that what God can do He can eliminate the way that so easily besetting to us I love that I love it And it comes right to us. And who is this? It is Satan. Satan knows his job. He continually attacks us. 1 Peter 5, 8. We know this verse, but it is so true. He says, be sober, be vigilant, but vigilant for your adversary the devil as a roaring lion walketh about seeking those whom he may devour. That's what Satan is doing. He's waiting for us to let our guard down so they can pounce. You can't let your guard down. You let your guard down, Satan will get you. And that's the point. And then he says, let us run with patience the race that is set before us. I like that. Let's run with patience the race that is set before us. Galatians 5 and 7, there's an interesting question here that is posed. And it is this. It says, ye can run well. Who did hinder you that you should not obey the truth? This is not for sinful people. this is a question for Christians because you've got to understand sinners aren't running the race the only ones that are running the race of the Christian experience are Christians so the question is you did run well but who hindered you that you should turn back you shouldn't obey the truth well who did it? Satan Satan knows his business he knows his business he knows his business better than we know our business and that's the truth because we can follow God but then so often what we do is we find ourselves going well look at that look at this and we take our eyes off of Jesus right and that's the point Satan's got his eyes right on the goal his goal is to destroy the church that he's doing a good job at He's doing a good job at it. But it is up to us, the Christians, to stand up and say, by the grace of God, we are not going to allow Satan to destroy this church. We're not going to allow Satan to destroy the Christian experience. We will go with God no matter what. And that's the point. So Satan knows his business. There's an old statement of a runner. A runner will hit the wall. You've probably heard that. They'll hit the wall. That means it's like hitting a wall. They're running good and then all of a sudden their energy level drops and they just can't do it. They can't run as fast as they did. That's what Singh is trying to do. He's trying to get us to hit the wall. So he puts fear. He puts doubt. He puts worry. He puts those negative thoughts. He puts all the unresolved issues in our minds. And he puts it on us and he says, remember this, remember this, remember this. And every single day it's another way. it's a loss. We've got to resist the devil and what does it say he'll do? He'll flee. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. That's what we've got to do. That's what we've got to do. And if we don't resist the devil he's going to keep putting that excess baggage on us. And before long we're going to be weighed down and we're not going to be able to run the race. what do we have to do when we're running this race well verse 2 tells we gotta look unto Jesus we gotta be looking unto Jesus the author and the finisher of our faith we gotta keep our eyes on Jesus I thought about this for a minute and I really thought about it and I was like you know what this is really true why did Judas fail he took his eyes off of Jesus why did Peter deny the Lord he took his eyes off of Jesus if we keep our eyes on Jesus we can't be led astray but the problem is we start looking about the things of this world and we start looking about other things and other people and we start worrying about other things and then before long our eyes are not focused on God and then we started looking around. You could even tell the story of Peter that's walking to Jesus on the water and he took his eyes off to Jesus and he's gone. That's the point. We have to keep our eyes on Jesus if we're going to win the race. If we're going to make it to heaven, if we're going to make it home, if we're going to make it where God is, we have to keep our eyes on Jesus. That's the only way we're going to make it. and it's easy to take our eyes off because this world is filled with distractions filled with distractions but we've got to keep our eyes on Jesus I love this looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross you ever think of Jesus' sacrifice as a joy? but it was a joy for God it was a joy for Jesus why? Because He would become the satisfaction of our sin. He would become the debt price, if you will. That paid price of our sin debt. He would become that. He died so we wouldn't have to. What a blessing. That's why it was a joy for Him to go to the cross. despising the shame and is sitting down at the right hand of the throne of God. Right now Jesus is sitting waiting to hear the words from God Son, go get my children. He's waiting for those words. And when those words come in the twinkling of an eye that dead in Christ shall rise first. We which are alive and remain, those of us that have laid aside all those extra weights, all that excess baggage, and are running the race, are going to be caught up to meet the Lord in the air. And what does it say? So shall we ever be with the Lord. What a blessing that is. Jesus is coming. The coming of the Lord is drawing nigh. It's right at the door. It's like, you ever see the picture of Jesus standing at the door knocking? That's basically what it is. The door is about to open any time. And God is going to send Jesus and he's going to say, come home. We've got to get rid of the excess baggage. How do we get rid of excess baggage? Three quick things. Number one, we gotta forgive and forget the past. Those past mistakes, those past mistakes, those things that are in the past, don't worry about them anymore. If you ask God to forgive don bring them up to Him If He already them Why are you asking him to forgive you again The Bible tells us that if we ask for forgiveness He takes that sin. He casts it behind his back. As far as the east is from the west. Never to be remembered against us again. So if that's the case. Why are we bringing up the past? We got to forgive it. We got to forgive it. We also have to go a step further up on that. We also got to forgive people their trespasses against us and then forgive it. Never bring it up again. Whoa. Say what? I got to never bring that up again. Yes. Why? What does the Bible say? If we don't forgive men's their trespasses against us, God will not forgive us our trespasses. So we gotta forgive. We gotta forget. Number two, we gotta move forward. Keeping our eyes on Jesus, we gotta keep moving forward. Don't give up. Don't quit. Don't give in. Keep moving forward. One foot in front of the other. One day at a time. Don't live six months in the future. Live one day at a time. Don't worry about tomorrow. Tomorrow may not come. Why am I gonna worry about tomorrow? holds. I may not know what tomorrow holds, but I know who holds tomorrow. And I'm going to worry about tomorrow because I may not get there. God may call me home tonight, and then I'm worried all day long on Sunday about Monday, and I may not even get there. So that my whole Sunday has been messed up with worry and doubt and fear for no reason. Move forward. Don't worry about tomorrow. Worry about today. Hallelujah. And then the final one is focus on Jesus. Focus on Christ. Put your eyes on him. Looking unto Jesus. As long as Peter was walking and looking at Jesus, he was fine. The moment he took his eyes off of Jesus is when he had trouble. Don't take your eyes off Jesus. Your whole daily experience. Every single hour of the day. Every single second of the day. Keep your eyes on Jesus. When you keep your eyes on Jesus, Satan can't hit you. Because you're focused on him. The reason Satan attacks us and makes us fall is because we take our eyes off of him. Don't take your eyes off of Jesus. When we do these three things, that says baggage, we'll slip away and we'll be on the way to heaven. We will rejoice in it. We will go in rejoicing into the Lord of heaven. That beautiful song when the saints go marching in, you know, I want to be in that number. And they're going to be marching in with a victory shaft. They're not going to be crawling in. Note the song when the saints go marching in. It doesn't say when the saints go crawling in. No, they're marching in with a victory march. with a victory shout. Don't you want to go to heaven victorious? I want to go victoriously into heaven. I don't want to go into heaven crawling in, defeated. I want to go saying, you know what, I've been victorious. I've been redeemed. I had victory. Yeah, maybe I had a couple of losses in some battles along the way, but I won the war. I made it to heaven. Let's get rid of that excess baggage. Let's focus on Him. Let's bow our heads for just a moment. Maybe you heard this message this morning. Maybe you've been listening and you said, you know what, there's a lot of excess baggage in my life. Maybe it's worry. Maybe it's fear. Maybe it's unresolved issues. Maybe it's just that negative thoughts in your life. Maybe there's something. Maybe it's something else that just weighs you down. Would you be honest to God this morning And say you know what Lord I need the excess baggage Take away Would you help me this morning Raise up hand Hands going up Hands going up everywhere Awesome that's great I appreciate your honesty And so does God Father God today You saw the hands of those that went up Maybe there's someone Who watched this video today Or the days to come And they're watching this and they're saying, you know what, I need to be forgiven. Raise up your hand here where you're at. You know, and say, Lord, I need to be forgiven. I need this excess baggage taken away. Father God, right now, I pray for these ones that raised up their hand. I pray, Father God, you will help them. If it's worry, eliminate it. If it's fear, get it out of their way. If it's unresolved issues, help them, Father God, to resolve them with forgiveness in their heart. If it's the negative thoughts, Father God, help them to have a more positive outlook on life. Whatever the case may be, help them, Father God, to have that kind of a life. That is a life of blessing and encouragement and love for other people. And thus, focus on you every single day in which they live. Father God, I thank you today for their honesty today. I know you appreciate their honesty and I pray for them today. I pray that you will bless them today. and now Father God as we dismiss our service this morning Father God I ask you not to dismiss us but Father God I ask that you will go with us you will keep us safe and then Father that you will bring us back safely to your house that we will be able to worship you that we will be able to be together and be able to give praise to the King of Kings and Lord of Lords protect us Father for all that you are for all that you do we praise you and we thank you For it's truly in Jesus' name we beg these blessings today. We say a heart of amen and amen. Amen. Thank you.

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