Pastor Wayne Cordeiro, Pastor Jon Burgess
September 9, 2018 - W1836

PASTOR JON BURGESS: Happy Twenty-Third Anniversary, New Hope! We are celebrating all the things that God has done over the past 23 years; and we are also choosing to press into everything that God would have for us in the future, as it says in…

Philippians 3:14-15 KJV, “...this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, ¹⁴ I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.” Not just forgetting the bad things, but also the good things that we have accomplished, so we won’t get distracted from the current race—our prize is Jesus!

Many times when we're pressed, the last thing we want to do is to press on. We would rather pass and give up, saying, “I'm done! I'm over it!” We may be in the crucible, feeling the pressures (financial, emotional, spiritual, relational), and wanting to give up the race.

The scriptures are replete with examples of men and women, just like us, who decided to put their trust in God and pressed on in the face of massive adversity. What if they hadn't pressed on and had given up? What if…

Noah: In the face of a ridiculous instruction from God to build a boat in a desert was mocked by the people around him, because it had never rained before! If he had not pressed on and obeyed God, his family and many animals would have all died.

Moses: Pharaoh broke his promise to Moses nine times to let God’s people go. What if Moses had given up the tenth time, when Pharaoh finally did let God’s people go? The people of Israel would still be slaves.

Joseph: He had a grand dream from God, but finds himself in prison for a crime that he did not commit! What if he had just said, “I'm done! This dream is not coming to pass!” He would not have been there to provide food for God’s people during the seven years of famine.

Pastor Wayne: Our very own Senior Pastor was sent to Hilo, Hawaii, by church leaders to close down a little church with a small congregation and a large of debt! While he was sitting on a bench, eating his lunch at Queen Liliuokalani Park, he heard God say, “No, Wayne, you’re not to close this church down. You’re to move your family from Eugene, Oregon, and you’re to pastor this church.” That was in 1983.

In 1995, God moved upon Pastor Wayne to start New Hope Christian Church on Oahu.   If he had not obeyed, there would not be 152 church plants; hundreds of thousands of people that have come to the Lord; and we would not be celebrating our Twenty-Third Anniversary!

When God says to press on, it’s not just for you; it’s for future generations after you, to continue to run the race!

Pastor Wayne continues to press on: As many of you are aware, he recently found out that he has prostate cancer; yet, he continues to show us how to press on for the high calling of God in Jesus Christ.

[Video from Eugene, Oregon]

PASTOR WAYNE CORDEIRO: Happy Anniversary, New Hope! It’s been a joyful and adventurous past two decades. This is the first celebration that I have not been able to be with you, but I am with you in heart and spirit.

Today, I want to talk to you about how God (as Job says), gives us songs in the night; David says that God gives us a new song even when we are at a dead end! In fact…

Psalm 40:1-3 KJV says, “¹I waited patiently for the Lord; and he inclined unto me, and heard my cry. ² He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings. ³ And he hath put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto our God: many shall see it, and fear, and shall trust in the Lord.”

A new song doesn’t come from a CD, radio, or playlist—it comes at the end of seasons of pain and dark nights.David finds himself in a horrible pit, stuck in mucky clay with no end in sight—everything seems to have brought him down. He cries out to God for help, but God’s help comes in smaller portions than David was expecting! Let me explain:

Some time ago, I wanted to learn to lift weights correctly, so I hired a coach to help me. He started with 180 pounds and I would lift it five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten times; then he said, “Now we’re going for 15 reps.” I thought, “You should have told me that in the beginning so I would have reserved some of my strength for the last five—now I’m shaking trying to get that weight up!” The bar suddenly seemed too heavy.

When I finally let go of my pride and said, “I need help,” he was standing behind me and reached down with two fingers—not two hands—and gave me about 5 pounds of help. He said, “Now, push, push, push!” I got it up, then a few more.

Finally, when I was done, he explained, “The first 10 reps is pushing with your strength and it doesn’t do anything to your muscles. After 11 or 12 when you’re fatigued, your muscles are breaking down; and when they are built back up, it will be repaired with new, fresher, bigger muscle strength, and tissues.

When I asked why he only gave me two fingers of help and not lift the bar, he said, “Then you wouldn’t have built strength. We’ll do this together, but if I did it for you, you would be in the same place next week, next month, or next year. We’ve got to get you to build muscle!”

Faith is like a muscle that must be built! The faith that you had when you came to Christ is wonderful, but you will need more faith to face the things that will be coming at you!

Recently, I was asked to bear a grave assignment when I was diagnosed with prostate cancer. I’m preparing for radical prostatectomy so I will not be able to be with you on this anniversary.

When I received the news, I wrestled with it for several days and had many sleepless nights: Will I need surgery? Had it spread? Will I need radiation or chemo? Will I survive at all? Will it change my life radically from now on? So many what-ifs flooded my mind!

One morning during my devotion (by the way, let me encourage you to stay faithful in your daily devotions because God speaks so clearly about His will and direction through your devotions.) I read John 18:11 KJV, “^So Jesus said to Peter, ‘…Shall I not drink the cup which My Father has given Me?’” We can talk about faith, but sooner or later, we realize that is easier to preach the cross than it is to carry it—when reality hits that it’s happening to me! Think of it this way…

The long line for the Black Friday Sale is like the long line to receive God’s blessings (people crowd to get into the blessings line); but the line to receive His sufferings is very short. Even though the sufferings line results in greater redemption, maybe a greater depth of relationship that no party favor, raffle prize, or blessing could ever offer, people avoid it. But Jesus knew that your redemption and mine would not be possible if He stood only in the bless?me?now line.

We've read about those who were given pretty tough assignments—but none more specific than Job. When Job was suffering with great pain in Job 2:9-10 NKJV, “⁹ …his wife said to him, ‘Do you still hold fast to your integrity? Curse God and die!’ (Look at his response.) ¹⁰ But he said to her, ‘You speak as one of the foolish women speaks. Shall we indeed accept good from God, and shall we not accept adversity?’ In all this Job did not sin with his lips.”

You may be caring for an invalid child, an aging parent, or picking up after losing a loved one, or living with a physical setback, a failed marriage—and, for some reason, the Lord has different plans for you; it’s a difficult cup to drink! It won’t always be sweet; but He will always be there to help you—sometimes with just 5 pounds, not 180. You’ll make it and your faith will grow!

Let me tell you about the new song I heard; it’s not a song that I composed. The new song will be given to me only after I have given myself fully to His purposes, not my expectations. When I drink the cup thatthe Lord has given me to drink—the new song will begin! 2 Chronicles29:27 KJV says,  ^“And Hezekiah commanded to offer the burnt offering upon the altar. And when the burnt offering began, the song of the Lord began.”

In the Old Testament we find several kinds of sacrifices: Grain offerings, peace offerings, sin offerings, guilt offerings. In Leviticus, we find burnt offering; it is fully given to God. The other offerings, when done, you could feast on it (the lamb and the grain biscuits). But in the burnt offering, you take nothing away—it’s fully sacrificed! No guarantees; just the joy of having given your all to Him! The song of the Lord that we sing (even in the middle of the desert) is that there's no greater, more powerful melody than that!

I remember a story of a flight attendant on a budget airline. She came through the aisles with breakfast boxes and asked a passenger, “Would you like some breakfast?” The passenger asked, “Well, what are my options?” She looked at him and said, “Yes or no.”

There will be times when God asks you to do something; sometimes He just springs it on you, and the only choice you have is to receive it or reject it (yes or no) or, “Shall I not drink of the cup which the Father has given me?”

When King Hezekiah came to rule, Israel was in total disarray, and the temple was in disrepair. And he repaired the temple, reinstituted sacrifices, and began to honor God with all his heart. Nothing was too big for him to do for the Lord; God was worthy! They sang hymns and voiced pledges.

There will be times in our lives when the storms hit, and we need a new song because our song seems to have been lost, or taken away. But, the song that God gives doesn't come from a labored composition or a night of straining. It comes when we are willing to say, "Shall I not drink from the cup which the Father has given me?" It comes from a heart that is offered as a burnt offering.

We’ve been serving God faithfully at New Hope for 23 years; the years have not always been mountaintop experiences or crowded bless-me lines. If we are honest and unpretentious about our devotion to Jesus, we will say that they included some tough times.

If we had played our cards right, New Hope Oahu could have been one of the largest churches with the biggest cathedral in the Pacific; but for some reason, God asked us to sacrifice our big church plans for church plants! We now have 152 of them, including in Japan, Australia, and Myanmar. No, Jesus did not ask us to build big churches or buildings; He asked us to build big people, and that’s what we have done!

On this Twenty-Third Anniversary, I again renew that commitment with you: Continue to be a burnt offering to God and watch what He will do in the future. Happy Anniversary, New Hope! We Are Greater Together! We will serve Him together till the end. God bless you!

[End Video]

PASTOR JON: I cannot think of a better way to celebrate 23 years of God’s faithfulness than to make sure everybody within the sound of my voice here or online can say with confidence that we are not alone. It’s not dependent on the highs and lows of life—it’s completely dependent on the One who walks us through! We are not alone!

STUDY QUESTIONS:

1. What is the cup that God is asking you to drink from?

2. When are some tough times that God has seen you through?

3. When have you seen positive results from “pressing on”?

4. Name the times you have walked in the valleys and knew you were not alone.