07/17/11 - Reel Life Part 2 - Pastor Tony Ashmore

Pastor Tony Ashmore continues the series "Reel Life" with part 2, "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe" in this Sunday morning celebration.

Reel Life PT2
Pastor Tony Ashmore
Sunday, July 17, 2011

www.mylifegatechurch.com


Sermon Notes:

Reel Life: The Chronicles of Narnia, The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe

2 Kings 6:17 “Then Elisha prayed, “O Lord, open his eyes and let him see!” The Lord opened the young man’s eyes, and when he looked up, he saw that the hillside around Elisha was filled with horses and chariots of fire.”  The “beyond belief” life we all want is surrounding us.  We have been given life and life abundantly, rich and satisfying life, more and better life (John 10:10).  Too often we let life, as dictated by our circumstances, hide from our eyes the real life Jesus died to give us.  There is a great adventure awaiting us every day in the Kingdom of God.  Let’s ask God to open our eyes to it.

Facts on Lewis and Book:
*    Almost wasn’t published due to criticism of overt Christian allegory and violence
*    Idea came from a picture of the faun he remembered seeing as a boy
*    Lewis began the book during WWII while hosting 3 young girls sent from London to escape the blitz bombings
*    Aslan is an allegory of the substitution and the ransom work of Christ
*    Time magazine lists the book as one of the 100 most important English works

Ephesians 3:20 “Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think.”  (NKJV—exceedingly, abundantly above all we might ask or think)

Psalm 8:4-6 “what are mere mortals that you should think about them, human beings that you should care for them? Yet you made them only a little lower than God and crowned them with glory and honor. You gave them charge of everything you made, putting all things under their authority”

1.  Scene where children back through the wardrobe and enter Narnia:
The ordinary can be the entrance to the extraordinary.  The children were faced with tough circumstances, shipped off due to escape the ravages of war, separated from parents, afraid of new caregivers.  All the ‘ordinary’ things of life—those daily circumstances and the daily grind.  Those things can lull us to sleep—close our eyes and ears to the extraordinary life surrounding us in the Kingdom of God. 

(Hebrews 6:11-12 “Our great desire is that you will keep on loving others as long as life lasts, in order to make certain that what you hope for will come true. Then you will not become spiritually dull and indifferent. Instead, you will follow the example of those who are going to inherit God’s promises because of their faith and endurance.”) 

(Romans 8:15 MESSAGE “This resurrection life you received from God is not a timid, grave-tending life. It's adventurously expectant, greeting God with a childlike "What's next, Papa?" God's Spirit touches our spirits and confirms who we really are. We know who he is, and we know who we are: Father and children. And we know we are going to get what's coming to us—an unbelievable inheritance! We go through exactly what Christ goes through. If we go through the hard times with him, then we're certainly going to go through the good times with him!”)

David’s example of looking for the extraordinary opportunities in the ordinary:

1 Samuel 17:45 (Message) “David answered, "You come at me with sword and spear and battle-ax. I come at you in the name of God-of-the-Angel-Armies, the God of Israel's troops, whom you curse and mock. This very day God is handing you over to me. I'm about to kill you, cut off your head, and serve up your body and the bodies of your Philistine buddies to the crows and coyotes. The whole earth will know that there's an extraordinary God in Israel. And everyone gathered here will learn that God doesn't save by means of sword or spear. The battle belongs to God—he's handing you to us on a platter!"  David’s ordinary skills—able to accurately use a slingshot—opened the door for the extraordinary.  He honed those skills in everyday, mundane, sometimes even boring, duties of shepherding.  He was easily forgotten—note his dad didn’t even present him to Samuel as a son when Samuel came looking for a king.  But God knew exactly where he was and what he was doing.  David was on the backside of nowhere practicing—much like a little boy throwing a ball against a wall pretending he is in the World Series.  God also knew David’s heart—that he would make reckless mistakes but also that he would recklessly love and honor God.  The ordinary became the door for David to become the greatest king in the history of Israel and the world.

2.   Scene where children are crowned as royalty next to Aslan the Lion:

We are created to have dominion.  Creation, circumstances within creation, should not rule over us or determine what our life looks like.  God created us to express His personality (in Our image), exhibit His power (in Our likeness), and extend His Kingdom (have dominion over). 

Revelation 1:6 NKJV “(Jesus) has made us kings and priests to His God and Father, to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.”

Philippians 4:10 MESSAGE “I'm glad in God, far happier than you would ever guess…Actually, I don't have a sense of needing anything personally. I've learned by now to be quite content whatever my circumstances. I'm just as happy with little as with much, with much as with little. I've found the recipe for being happy whether full or hungry, hands full or hands empty. Whatever I have, wherever I am, I can make it through anything in the One who makes me who I am.”


So What?

1.    Quit thinking like a ‘mere man’ (1 Corinthians 16:13 KJV)—You are made in the image of God—His thoughts and ways are higher—an HNL!  Start getting His thoughts, speaking His Words, doing His actions in your ordinary days. 

2.    Do your best, even in the mundane.  Proverbs 22:29 “Do you see any truly competent workers? They will serve kings rather than working for ordinary people.”

3.    Raise your expectations—people usually get what they expect.  Expect the miraculous, expect the extraordinary, expect the supernatural God to intervene in our natural lives.  Live the adventure.      2 Corinthians 3:8-9 “Shouldn’t we expect far greater glory under the new way, now that the Holy Spirit is giving life? If the old way, which brings condemnation, was glorious, how much more glorious is the new way, which makes us right with God!”