LESSONS I LEARNED FROM SAM

"Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord." (I Corinthians 15:58)

I have not been in the habit of posting sermon outlines or sermon highlights on my blog, but this is the gist of the sermon I preached at our church yesterday morning. I hope you like it!

"Lessons I Learned From Sam" is about a DOG. I'm really not a "dog person" at all, but I have to say I really enjoyed my daughter Amy and son-in-law David's young Jack Russell Terrier "Sam" while I was staying with them in Springfield, Missouri.

What are the lessons I learned from Sam?

1. STICK CLOSE TO THE MASTER
(Please read John 15:1-10).
Sam is 18-months-old. Amy and David have had Sam since last August. Like most Jack Russell Terriers, he's full of energy, very fast, but is unwise! David had left the door of their two car garage open, and Sam ran through it and began running as fast as he could through the neighborhood. Amy was frantically chasing him but could not keep up. Sam ran across Chestnut Expressway (a similar road to Route 9 in Framingham) and it's a miracle he was not killed; but then Amy lost him. She sadly walked through the area but thought he was gone for good. A man in a pickup truck pulled up and asked, "Are you looking for a lost dog?" It seems Sam was at a local gas station/convenience store frantically jumping at their glass door. The guy drove Amy to the place; Amy leaped out of the truck yelling, "Grab that puppy!" When Sam got home he was put into his cage for quite awhile!
As Sam needed to stick close to his master, Amy; WE need to stick close to our Master, Jesus. When we DON'T, we put ourselves in spiritual peril! (See also the Parable of the Ten Virgins from Matthew 25:1-23).

2. FOLLOW THE MASTER'S DIRECTIONS
(Please read Luke 11:27-28 and James 1:22).
"The Master's Directions" are found in the Bible! We must not only thoroughly read our Bibles, we must DO what the Bible says to do! I found that when I taught Sam firm commands, his behavior got better. When I'd try to put dry good in his bowl, his nose and mouth would be all over my hand. I quickly learned to say, "NO, Back up! Back up!" I got Sam to the point that he WOULD back up and let me easily put food in his bowl. When Sam wanted to go out into the back yard, he'd jump and jump at the back door and door handle. I learned to say, "NO, Get Down!" THEN, I'd open the door. Amy's yard has a chain link fence and a gate connecting the front and back yards. Sam loves to try to bolt out when the gate is being opened. I would firmly command, "Stay back! Stay back!" and he quickly learned to do that.
Like Sam, WE need to follow our Lord's directions and commands. Last week, I heard radio teacher John DeBrine say that our trust should not be in ORGANIZATION, our trust should not be in EDUCATION, our trust should not be in ELOQUENCE, but our trust SHOULD be in the Holy Spirit...in following the Holy Spirit's directions. Amen to that!

3. BE ACTIVE, NOT PASSIVE
(Please read the Parable of the Talents from Matthew 25:14-30).
Sam's original owner was an old lady who really couldn't take proper care of him. When Amy and David got Sam he was very fat! She fed and fed him, and he got little exercise. The vet told them Sam was obese and needed proper diet and exercise. Today, Sam is at his correct weight and very active. It's hard to believe he was ever fat. Sadly, many Christians become spiritually fat and lazy. Over thirty years ago, Amy Grant sang about that in her cute song, "Fat Baby". James 1:22 says we must be "doers of the Word and not hearers only". In the American Assemblies of God, the number of Sunday Schools and other means of discipleship is SHRINKING. People want to "get saved" and then just sit in pews and take up space. That is NOT God's way. He calls us to actively minister for Him; whoever we are.

4. DON'T BE SELFISH, BE UNSELFISH
(Please read Please read Philippians 2:1-11 and Mark 10:45).
Sam had one particular bone he loved to chew and gnaw on. Amy hated when he jumped up on one of her sofas with that bone, and when he did she'd yell at him to get down. One Friday evening, I was laying on the sofa watching T.V. Sam had jumped up on the other end of the sofa with the bone. Amy yelled at him to get down. He suddenly jumped hard onto the other end of the sofa with one of his paws landing HARD on my ear. It felt like getting whacked in the head with a hammer! When Sam got off the couch, my ear had a gash in it and was bleeding. Needless to say, Amy put Sam in his cage for a good long while, and I was glad she was a nurse! She thoroughly cleaned the wound with peroxide and I had to hold a paper towel on it for about a half hour. Sam was selfish. All he cared about was his bone and what he wanted to do. Many Christians are very selfish. They care ONLY about what's good for them and have no sensitivity for others or concern for others. JESUS came to love and serve. WE are called to be unselfish...to be like Jesus.

5. SEEK WHAT BRINGS LIFE AND NOT DEATH
(Please read John 10:10).
There were several wild bunnies running around Amy's neighborhood. When Sam would see one of them, he'd go crazy! He'd run after one of the bunnies as fast as he could, but the rabbits would slip under the fence and get away. A couple of weeks ago, Amy and David came home from church on Sunday to find a present on the floor of the living room: a dead bunny! You guessed it; that incident also landed Sam in his cage. Amy said the rabbit did NOT appear to be fresh killed. Rather, she thinks Sam killed it and hid it for awhile. Somehow he snuck it in the house on that Sunday morning before we left, and brought it out to play with it when no one was home. Yuck! Would you like to run around with a dead bunny in your mouth?! The Bible says in John 1:4 as well as many other passages that Jesus came to bring us life, but so often we, like Sam, seek death. We go after things that are no good for us and will ultimately lead to eternal death in Hell. Let's seek the Lord and His Word...let's seek what brings life and not death!

6. BE ALERT
(Please read Mark 13:32-37).
We are called to be alert and watchful during the last days. I found it humorous that quite often, Sam was NOT particularly alert. One Saturday evening, we had a cookout and party in Amy's backyard. Sam was running around trying to beg for food from people, but there was a hunk of a hot dog on the ground right in front of him. We tried and tried to show him the hot dog. It seemed to take him forever to finally discover it! Sam did a lot of things like that! After many years of ministry, I've seen SO many situations where God was trying to get someone's attention about something and they were absolutely CLUELESS! Let's not be like Sam. Spiritually speaking, let's really be alert to what the Lord is wanting to show us!

7. TRUST AND OBEY
(Please read 2 Timothy 1:7 and I Peter 5:5-8).
On the early morning of Friday, May 8, Sam was whimpering and sticking very close to me. Outside it was dark and rainy. Little did I realize that in a few moments, tornadoes would touch down in the Springfield, Missouri area and the tornado warning sirens would begin to sound. It's said that animals can sense danger before humans can, and I think that's often true. It may explain his behavior that morning. I went to the safest place in that house and coaxed Sam to do the same. So many times in life, we get fearful and confused. When we try to only follow our OWN thoughts and opinions, we may well end up with a lot more confusion and a lot more fear. In a sense, Sam had to trust and obey me during that tornado warning. So, GOD wants us to trust and obey Him through the difficulties of life.