Preacher: Les Petry
More songs will take the offering the Travis will preach and we’ll have them both in the back and you guys can congratulate them and maybe they’ll still still be in standing at the endthat’s the goal but I want to pray for you right now less and then the floor is yours dear Lord I thank you so much my brother in Christ and I’m excited that he has this opportunity to him to talk about you and to talk about your love for him and the way that you’ve shown him that he is very special in your sight and so Lord I’m just use less his words to encourage all of us to inspire us to live on our face like real men and so father I just pray that you give him freedom as he speaks to us and just allow us to embrace the common faith that we share and we present Christ in human.
Yeah to Phil thank you well good morning and thank you for letting me be up here this morning I guess we’ll find out later today and my wife just mouth to me that’s been four years.
So I stand corrected a little bit about myself I’m less Petri my wife Karen we’ve been married thirty seven years we hail originally from well I come from Canada My wife is from Denver Colorado we have two children you might know the area and Stacey Stacey is our youngest. Declan and Desmond are their children and then Brad and Margaret their kids come to want to enter volunteer where they go to another church and that’s Maher Madeleine and and Evan So we’re very blessed to have a very healthy happy family.
When when.
Josh asked a few weeks ago about the getting up here I’m not sure I want to do that I’ve been in front of people before that didn’t bother me but he used to. Sermon to preach and that was something that made me very uncomfortable. So and then I was talking with Stan in the in the lobby one day and I was always taught to be respectful way and to find something nice to say about people so I commented about the color stance here is it really like the color of your hair and he looked back at me so well so almost the same as yours isn’t it.
Now taking that a little bit further Josh had asked me to represent the older people.
So I guess that’s why I’m here is to represent the older people so don’t take any offense to that and then on the hair theme I thought you know there’s a lot of passages in the scripture about hair maybe a preacher bow hair well that’s not going to happen and number one I’m not preaching I’m just talking and I’m not going to talk about here so. That’s that’s how I came to be up here so we’ve been coming to the church about for years as well as we said so. I really kind of struggled as to what to talk about Josh it asked me to talk about a verse. I had a hard time just picking one verse so I reflected back and actually went to my favorite book The Book of Job. In it it helps.
I’m going have to read some of this I’m sorry so just bear with me.
It helps me grasp who I am in the grand scheme of things to whom and why important and why and when you go through trials and tribulations I think we all ask ourselves why is this happening to me arrayed and it helps to put everything in perspective so why is this happening to me and I’m I’m a child of God I believe and yet I’m going through these difficult times.
If you want to just turn with me first of all to Joel. One one one through five we’ll just read that very quickly and we’re just going to bounce around a little bit and Joel this is not a real heavy deep study of job it’s just some things that have encouraged me.
So job one one to five and we’ll just start there there once was a man named Joel who lived in the Land of Oz He was blameless a man of complete integrity he feared God and stayed away from evil he had seven sons and three daughters he owned seven thousand sheep three thousand camels five hundred teams of oxen and five hundred female donkeys and he employed many servants and he was in fact the richest person in the entire area. Job sons would take turns preparing feasts in their homes and they would also invite their three sisters to celebrate them when the celebrations ended sometimes after several days job would peer file his children he would get up early in the morning and offer a burnt offering for each of them for a job some said to him say to himself perhaps my children of sin and of curse God in their hearts this was bulbs regular practice. And now I think I think we can see from this job had a pretty good all right he was a godly man. He was wealthy he had a healthy happy family and and he he was pretty pretty content in the world where he was and where things are going that’s going to change now I’m sure all of us have been through personal trials and tribulations. If you haven’t they’re coming OK. And it doesn’t matter if we’re a believer or nonbeliever they’re going to come but we’re looking at it from the perspective of a believe yours.
Faith today.
After we I said we had come from Calgary and we had moved to Paysan. We lived there for two. When you yours and I actually we came through pace and I think in one thousand nine hundred two it doesn’t matter and I said this is a great place to be and to be quite honest with you I thought I could ride my motorcycle year round. So.
It took us a while to. Get ready and God worked things out that we were able to go and we actually moved in the summer of one thousand nine hundred five I packed up a duffel bag full of tool tools in the back of my motorcycle and Karen and the kids flew to Denver and stayed with her folks while I found a job and a place to live so that’s what we came to Arizona with.
We you know we were in the process we had built our first house and pace it was one thousand nine hundred eighty eight I think it was and you know I had a healthy happy family we were involved in a church our kids were great and I suffered a back injury that took basically two years out of my life our lives that I couldn’t work I couldn’t get out of bed you know I wasn’t eligible for any social services and so we were totally dependent on God.
It just amazes me how God took care of us looking back I can’t even really say how he did this or how we did that or how he did this but I know that God was in control and took care of us would I change that time not for anything they grew us together as a family it grew us together spiritually and it just I’d like I said Was it tough yeah did I want out of it at the time you better believe it. There’s a sense of self-worth when a man is working and supplying for his family when he can’t do that it’s pretty devastating but. That’s just how things happened it wasn’t by any plan it wasn’t any. God’s wrath just was the way things were it was a trial it was a trial so. So let’s go back to job and let’s look at job one six through twelve just very quickly and this is job’s first test one day the members of the heavenly for court came to present themselves before the Lord in the accuser Satan came with them where he come from the Lord as seen Satan answered The Lord have been patrolling the worth Earth watching everything that’s going on then the Lord asked Satan Have you noticed my servant job he is the finest man in all the earth he is blameless a man of complete integrity he fears God and stays away from evil I just want to stop there for a minute you know God is very proud of Joel and and he has been holding him and hiding him from Satan and not allowing anything to happen so let’s keep going Satan replied the Lord yes but Joe has good reason to fear God you have always put a wall of protection around him and his home and his property you have made him prosper in everything he does look how rich he is but reach out and take everything away he has and he will surely curse you to your face all right you may test Him the Lord said to Satan do whatever you want with everything he possesses but don’t harm him physically so satan left the presence of the Lord.
You know this last that verse twelve really really speaks to me.
Job is very ultimately in the hands of God and Satan has no power over. Joel state has no power over God God is telling Joel what you can do all right and this is really important for us to remember God is the victor and he has it in him he has us in his hands and God permits it as we see throughout job that he. He is protected but also that job has a part to play and that’s OK It’s going to be a learning curve for job and it’s going to be very sincere.
You know Joel job has it we’re not going to read the entire book but you know we if you’re familiar with the story Joel goes through a lot he loses basically everything his friends his wife tell him to curse God and to walk away and job still and yours and hangs on there and he just he just really is hanging in there but he starts to cry out you know whoa is me what’s happening you know he’s really a better word forty’s whiny he’s really whining to God and you know we kind of got a question that a little bit but I think sometimes we do that ourselves you know we whine and we complain to God as to why this is happening. You know and God God listens for a while I mean job goes on his friends go on and God listens for a while and we can see you know God is very patient he doesn’t he doesn’t just stand up and wrap and I mean even if you look at all the Biblical text with Israel lights and whatever you want to look at God is very patient but there is going to come a time OK.
Let’s flip let’s flip over to Job thirty eight one to three please.
That’s Job thirty eight versus one to three.
So all this time job has been complaining and God has been listening now the Lord is going to challenge job at least that’s what it says at the heading of my chapter in my Bible OK.
So Job thirty eight one to three then the Lord answered Job from the whirlwind who is this that questions my wisdoms with such ignorant words brace yourself like a man OK because I have some question. As for you and you must answer them all right it’s pay up time OK. So.
He starts the starts to let me go back to job and kind of question him and I want to think back when I’m going to go there but I want you to think back about Genesis and the creation you know and how God created everything and he created everything out of a spoken word all right God created the word spoken was created and that’s all great and beautiful.
Excuse me for a second.
That’s all great and beautiful but this is the part that I really love a boat a boat job it’s all of the next few verses and chapters all the way through Chapter forty one God gives a beautiful illustration of creation he talks about you know where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth tell me if you have understanding who determined it’s measurements Surely you know or stretched the line upon it.
He goes on to say where are you when the font is born you know who harnesses the power of the of the of the horse and the donkey and who where were you when I hung the stars in the sky you know we think we’re so smart we’re so clever and we know so much but when you start reading through job when you start looking at what God actually did during creation it just blows me away.
Well job finally is coming to a spiritual sense and seeks forgiveness so let’s flip over again it to Joe forty two verses one to six.
Job forty two verses one to six then the job replied to the Lord I know that you can do nothing and no one can stop you you asked Who is this that questions my wisdom with such ignorance is. As I and I was talking about things I knew nothing about. OK things far too wonderful for me you said listen and I will speak I have some questions for you and you must answer them I had only heard about you before but now I have seen you with my eyes I take back everything I said and I sit in dust and ashes to show my repentance. Well I think it’s really important here to see the change of heart to Joe Pass we know the job was a godly man he was blessed.
And when he started to question God God It dealt with them and Joel had a change of heart which is what God looks at so he looks at our heart and how that is perceived.
And on this is where I kind of gain might perspective of who I am who I am I ported to and why I’m here I’m here to love and serve my God And I was bought with a very very expensive price.
And you know through this we see that Joel is cared for by God. More than circumstances but out of what God Or what about but are real a personal relationship with us to God That’s what God cares about.
I want to tell you a little bit of story and I might get emotional and very but.
This is a very good church fit for me because I’ve always been interested in guns.
So when I was a man I can’t even remember maybe. Fourth grade. And probably a lot of you don’t even really remember these but they were little pistols and they were spring action and they shot the beans that mom used to sew to cook for three days and I wanted one of those guns so badly I just I just really wanted one we didn’t have any money so all.
We had lived in a house which we had vacated and I knew how to get into the house and just one day I could I broke into the house to be honest with you that’s what happened OK there’s no easy way to say it I broke into the house and I was went into the basement was rummaging around and I found this great beautiful badminton set so I hooked up badminton set and I took off and I was going down the back alley and mom called to me from the back porch and I dropped the badminton set in the weeds and took off and.
Mom said What do you have I said I just I just had a plastic bag you know I just found this piece of plastic that I was messing with and she said OK She had me do some air and I don’t remember what it was after I did what she wanted day I went back and retrieved the badminton set what am I going to do with this being a creative little.
Stinker that I was I hopped on my bike and I rode down town to the pawn shop. And I tried to pawn this badminton said well the point dealer said you know I got a note from your folks song OK so I’m on my way back home and on my way back home on my bike I met a buddy of mine.
High school friend or partner elementary school friend and he had been going well I was able to talk him out of it being gone OK so we swapped I gave him the badminton set and he took I took to being a gun I had a great time with it I probably pilfered some of Mom’s beans that day I don’t remember. After supper there was a knock on the door and it was my friend and my dad answered the door and he said Hey my folks said I can’t trade this being done earth is badminton set for this being done. While we’re where you where you hear well Lestrade neither the badminton sit well less doesn’t have a bad day and said Oh yeah I traded so last Camaro.
So I went to the Oh no dad he’s got the wrong guy it must have been an. Other friends OK. So.
While the truth came out.
I had to go get the bean gun that I had stashed swapped it back Dad wanted know where you get the bad news is that so confession time. And my dad told me he said OK there’s going to have to be some punishment to go to the bedroom so I go to the bedroom dad comes in and I can still remember him taking his belt off you know that through the belt loops.
And I thought OK you know brace for this you know and then my dad took his shirt off and he gave me the belt and my dad made me with him.
To me.
It’s an illustration so you.
Of what Christ done for us whole life.
I say this to you to go back to Joe and the trials and the tribulations and I want to be very careful not to perceive our trials as God’s wrath there are consequences OK now I don’t believe that job was going through was a concert or was it was it was God’s wrath I believe it was a trial to test and improve him.
But there was a change of heart as I said for Joel There was also a change of heart for me when Dad made me with him.
I remember striking my dad with the belt and I remember him telling me hit me harder it’s got to hurt asked me something it’s given.
So.
Let’s just jump over real quickly too. James one twenty four.
And will will read that.
James won twenty four count it all joy my brothers when you meet trials of various kinds for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness steadfastness and let steadfastness have its full effect that you may be perfect complete and lacking in nothing.
So we see that God always has a plan for us all right.
And then I want to also look at Romans five eight to eleven if you want to flip there that’s fine if not just read it and it’s probably a verse that we most of us have memorized OK but God shows His love for us and that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us since before we have now been justified because blood by His blood much more shall we say be safe by him from the wrath of God For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by death of his son much more now that we are reconciled sure we saved by His life more than that we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ through whom we have now received reconciliation.
So.
I’m very important to God.
We all are very important to God We all have extreme value to God. So much so that we have been reconciled and by the Blood of Jesus Christ OK it’s a very very heavy price he paid.
God loves me he forgives me her forgave me and he has me in his hands at all times to regardless of what I or we are going through.
What is my. Heart condition when I’m going through these trials and tribulations and my thanking God and my respect to God for it or am i just trying to get through it and getting angry with God. God always has a reason and a plan don’t hide don’t run or getting angry with them.
So I hope you can take.
Some of the stuff and just kind of think about it and just remember I said you are important to God God loves you he has you in his hands at all time don’t run and hide because you’re just going to be a better person for it let’s pray.
Heavenly Father we thank you that you are in control we thank you that you do love us and you love the so much that you paid this sacrifice I just pray that we would endure hardship and focus on you. Thank you for us in Jesus’ name amen.