Friend help us to celebrate (sermonidea.com)

There are many people who want to help us celebrate the moment. They share our joy and they share our enthusiasm. Often people come from far and near to share in the celebration. Celebrations are scriptural!
When friends of his family hosted a wedding Jesus joined the celebration, indicating that helping others celebrate the moment was an act of friendship and fellowship sanctioned by God himself. Despite the fact that there are thousands of people who come to some celebrations there are certain people that each of us desires to see present to share that moment.
Those who know our story, who have seen us grow and mature, fall down and get back up, as well as grow stronger by the year are best able to appreciate and celebrate the moment. Those who know us well know from whence we have come. When we are on in the mountaintop only those who have seen us when we were in the valley can appreciate the full gravity of our accomplishment. It is good to have those in the balcony as witnesses who have seen us at our worse and now see us at our best. When Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Conner became the first woman to sit on the Supreme Court, the day she was sworn in was a great day. There were thousands of people in attendance. But Justice O’Conner scanned through the crowd to find the eyes of a mother and mouthed the words thank you. As far as she was concerned only one person could really help her celebrate that moment.
Believers who accomplish something today must remember that there are only a few people who can really help them celebrate the moment and it’s good to have them in the balcony.

Blind alley situation (from sermon idea.com)

At various turns in life we enter blind alley situations. Blind alleys are those circumstances in which we are cornered by no action of our own, but the unfair unjust circumstances of life take us on a path in which we cannot see an escape.

Often we are frustrated by life's blind alleys. They are the circumstances that result in bad things happening to good people. That's the essence of a tragedy, when a bad thing happens to a good person. It's what happened to Job. He was a good man who faced a blind alley situation. Bad things were happening to him repeatedly, death, financial disaster, loss of family and many other problems. There was no place to escape and no place to turn. Yet, even in the blind alley of life, Job resolved to remain faithful to the Lord. The poor widow woman faced a similar blind alley. With no money or resources she did all she knew how to do. Finally she gather two sticks and her last cruz of oil and prepared to make a final cake of bread for herself and her children.

Every believer knows what it's like to face a blind alley situation where you are helpless against powers greater than yourself, defenseless with little room for escape or retreat and your every action is falsely interpreted with often terminal results.

What's your blind alley? Is it a sickness that you cannot overcome?

Is it a financial loss that seems colossal?

Is it an unwarranted attack by enemies upon you or your family?

At first glance, we are frustrated by blind alley situations. Why is it that the just suffer injustice?

Why is it that the good suffer at the hand of the bad?

Why is it that those who labor in the vineyard of life seem to have such a difficult time?

Why doesn't God help the helpless avoid blind alleys?

These are questions we all face when we find ourselves in life's alley looking down the barrel of situations that are being used against us, to an undesirable end. What purpose comes from allowing a believer to wander into a blind alley only to fall into the hands of enemies?

That was the question that the disciples asked in John 9:1-7 when they noticed a blind man who stumbled through the alleys all of his life. They wanted to know the purpose of situation. Was it a family sin that brought this upon him? Did he do something wrong? Jesus answered by saying that the man's entire purpose in life was to provide an opportunity for Christ to do a great work through his circumstance and thus bring salvation to many.

Since each of us has a purpose in life, our blind our alley situation could very well be the one circumstance that God uses to correct wrongs that exist for generations to come. He did it so many times. People received a new view of mentally disabled people when Jesus cured the man who ran wild in cemeteries. They began to see the mentally disabled as human beings. The woman at the well came from a blind alley circumstance, but Christ used her social stigma to show the value of every human being, even those once thought dispensable. Even Lazarus was allowed to die to demonstrate the power of the Lord over life and death situations.

The great preacher Robert Schuler, underwent a sickness that incapacitated him for a while. In the interim he wrote a book by the title, "Life is not fair, but God is good."

That should be our resolve, Life may present us with unjust situations, but God is still good!

When we reach blind alley situations and can't see our way out, we only have one resolve, to "lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help, my help cometh from the Lord who made the heaven and earth."

WE CAN BE ASSURED THAT GOD WILL NOT CHANGE

n a difficult world where everything changes instantly, it is a blessing for believers to know that God’s hand is unchanging. His way of dealing with us is constant and predictable. He won’t be with us today, then forsake us tomorrow. The Biblical record is filled with reassurances that God will be with us in a predictable manner.

When Israel prepared to go into unknown territory Moses reminded them in Deuteronomy 31:6,”Be strong and of a good courage, fear not, nor be afraid of them: for the Lord thy God, He it is that doth to with thee; He will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.” In the New Testament this is repeated again for Christian believers. Hebrews 13:5, “..for He hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.”

This is a reassurance that whatever situation that may arise, God will be there, holding our hand. Even when our parents and relatives seem to change in their relationships toward us, God is unchanging. Psalm 27:10 says,” When my father and my mother forsake me, then the Lord will take me up.” In God’s hands, we are safe. He will not walk out on us. He will not abandon us. We will be there for us regardless of the circumstance. (from sermonideas.com)

Despite disappointments, there is always hope

In our disappointments, there is always hope. There is an old saying that behind every dark cloud, there is a silver lining. The song writer says, “There is a bright side somewhere.” In our disappointments, God always show us His grace. In our sickness, tragedies and setbacks, God speaks boldly to our situation and we find hope. That hope is the promises of God. The covenant that God makes with us is what keeps us going. We have His word that He will make a way for us out of no way and be a bridge for us over all of our troubling waters. Therefore even if life gives us disappointments, we don’t give up because God is still on the throne (from sermonideas.com)