Dont' Do It Alone

The super bowl is always an exciting time.  One team is going to come out on top. It is going to take the entire team. The quarterback is good but he is going to need the lineman. Lone rangers will not win the super bowl. If you are going to take hold of what God has for you, you are not going to do it alone. Winning is a team sport. It doesn’t matter how fast Jeff Gordon is if he does not have a pit crew he is not going to win. We have got to get on God’s team. Paul said if we are disconnected from the body of Christ we are never going to be who we were created to be. The hand disconnected from the body cannot function properly. Today I want to ask you who is on your team. Who is your coach? Who are the spiritual coaches in your life? Who is on your team? You can’t go it alone. A coach sees in you what you cannot see in yourself. The coach tells you not to quit. We need team mates in our life that challenge us and tell us to keep on going. In reality there are too many people trying to go it alone.

Today I want to look at a story in the Old Testament. You either win or lose based on who you have on your team.  Israel is at war with the Philistines again. They are always trying to raid their harvest and raid their women and raid their possessions. The Israelite army is afraid and hiding out in caves. God never intended Israel to have an army. God wanted to be their protector. Israel was never meant to have an army but God gave them an army. They were not to have a king but they said we want a king like every other nation so God gave them a king. He wasn’t a very good king. They were not a very good army. Be careful what you ask for because you might get it. Sometimes if you get what you want you will lose what you’ve got. That is another whole sermon. The Philistines have the Israelite army on the run. They were hiding out in caves. Jonathon who was king Saul’s son said I have had enough of this so he grabbed his armor bearer and said lets go fight them. An armor bearer was one that would carry the extra armor for a king or leader or a soldier. He would have an extra sword or a shield. The armor that they wore had not protection in the back so they would stand back to back to fight the enemy.  So Jonathon said this:

 I Samuel 14:6  Jonathan said to his young armor-bearer, “Come, let’s go over to the outpost of those uncircumcised men. Perhaps the Lord will act in our behalf. Nothing can hinder the Lord from saving, whether by many or by few.”
He was saying nothing can stop the army because God is with us. God doesn’t need a big army. God and I always make a majority. Somebody may need to hear that today because you might feel outnumbered by your circumstances. The Lord will fight your battle for you. 
Vs 7-11  ⁷ “Do all that you have in mind,” his armor-bearer said. “Go ahead; I am with you heart and soul.” ⁸ Jonathan said, “Come on, then; we will cross over toward them and let them see us. ⁹ If they say to us, ‘Wait there until we come to you,’ we will stay where we are and not go up to them. ¹⁰ But if they say, ‘Come up to us,’ we will climb up, because that will be our sign that the Lord has given them into our hands.” 11 So both of them showed themselves to the Philistine outpost. “Look!” said the Philistines. “The Hebrews are crawling out of the holes they were hiding in.”

They had not swung the first sword yet but Johnathon says the Lord has given them to our hands. God had given them the victory but they still had to fight. There are some promises that God has spoken to your heart but you are still going to have to hang on to those promises in the middle of the battle. You have to fight the good fight of faith. When you get into a battle it doesn’t mean that God has abandoned you. Sometimes we get into a battle and we say:”Oh God where are you?”  He has not abandoned you; rather he is right there by your side.  The one who reigns forever is a friend of mine and yours.   We don’t have to fear.

**Just because the enemy is present does not mean that God is out.
Vs 12-13 ¹² The men of the outpost shouted to Jonathan and his armor-bearer, “Come up to us and we’ll teach you a lesson.” So Jonathan said to his armor-bearer, “Climb up after me; the Lord has given them into the hand of Israel.” ¹³ Jonathan climbed up, using his hands and feet, with his armor-bearer right behind him. The Philistines fell before Jonathan, and his armor-bearer followed and killed behind him. ¹⁴ In that first attack Jonathan and his armor-bearer killed some twenty men in an area of about half an acre.

Here is the point. You cannot win alone.  You need a team around you. 2 things here about the team:

>>The Right Team Takes You Higher Than You Can Go By Yourself

The right people in your life can take you higher than you could ever go on your own. Johnathon said to his armor bearer: come on let’s go. If he had not done this the armor bearer would have never done this by himself. That stirred up faith. The armor bearer went with him heart and soul. He said: I am all in.  That builds confidence in your life.  I am glad that our church is filled with people like that.

When we were looking for our first building and it was more per month for the payment than we were taking in. our trustees and leadership never said maybe we should think smaller. The same was true for the building at the Saltillo campus and the Tupelo campus. We had people around us saying we don’t know how it is going to happen but we are with you heart and soul. Now we are seeing people restored, redeemed, healed and changed by the power of Jesus Christ and you are a part of that.
Even though that is great in our church, you need to have that in your life. I am with you heart and soul. I am lifting up the things in your life.  I am believing for you. I am cheering you on to be all that God wants you to be. You need that in your ear. You need that in your corner.  I am so thankful that Marla and I have that in our lives. We had people encouraging us and standing with us. We have people that are praying for us. You will always have those against you. When we started NSC there were people that spoke negative rather than encouragement. However we had that team of believers that cheered us on to do what God had called us to do. 
It builds your God-fidence when you have that. Moses had Aaron as he held up his hands. David had Jonathan by his side.
Ecclesiastes 4:12 ¹² Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.
When you have people speaking faith it builds your confidence in God. Confidence is contagious so is lack of confidence. Johnathon and his armor bear went place they never thought they would go. They did something they never thought they would do. It is significant that they did it together.
I read this about Canadian geese.  They rotate leadership. When one goose is tired to rotates to the back. The reason for this is the updraft. When the geese in the front are flying it creates an updraft that makes it easier for the ones behind. They did a study that because they fly in this V-formation that they are 71% more effective than if they were flying by themselves. 71% is incredible because they had the right birds around them. Do you have the right birds around you? I also found that the only birds that honk are the ones in the back. What they are actually doing is they are encouraging the other birds. You need some honkers in your life. You need some people who are telling you keep on going. God has something great for your life.
1 Thessalonians 5:11 ¹¹ Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.

**Get the right friends, get the right life.

Proverbs 12:26 ²⁶ The righteous choose their friends carefully, but the way of the wicked leads them astray.

Your relationships shape your future.

**Your destiny in not a mystery- it is made up of all the little things you are involved in and the choices you make in obedience. You show me your friends and I will show you your future. I am not saying you can only hang out with people who listen to Christian music and carry a big bible around etc. however those closest to you need to be those who are cheering you on in the Lord and headed the direction you are heading. 

Proverbs 13:20 ²⁰ Walk with the wise and become wise, for a companion of fools suffers harm.

Proverbs 13:20 Good News Translation (GNT) ²⁰ Keep company with the wise and you will become wise. If you make friends with stupid people, you will be ruined.

You know who this verse is talking about in your life. It matters who you hang with.

Now note the second thing about the team:

>>The Right Team Makes You Better Than You Can Be By Yourself

They will take you higher and they will make you better. Think about Jonathan and the armor bearer. Together they went higher and together they were better. It was what was best for them but also for the entire nation Israel.

They won the battle because two men said we are going to be all that we can be. We are going to step out in courage.

Vs 15 ¹⁵ Then panic struck the whole army—those in the camp and field, and those in the outposts and raiding parties—and the ground shook. It was a panic sent by God.^[a]

Hebrews 10:24-25 ²⁴ And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, ²⁵ not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.

The word spur is the word for provoke. It is not comfortable. It is like a spur on cowboy boots to get the horse going in the right direction. There are times that I need spurring in the right direction. Sometimes I am not wanting to move when God is saying to move. We need someone who holds us accountable. We don’t like accountability. It is giving someone permission to hold us accountable to our decisions. When I am watching my weight and health, I tell Marla when we are going out don’t let me eat anything or order anything that I don’t need to have. Kick me under the table. With accountability in your life you will do things you would not do without it.  We are better when people are watching. When I am running and a car comes by, I start running faster until they pass.  We need to transfer that to spiritual things. What if we had spiritual accountability? How much more would we do and accomplish. If you know someone is going to ask you if you are reading your bible hopefully you will read your bible. I know when I read my bible it is doing the right thing for me.

We need friends helping friends to go after God in your life. The other side of this is you will have things you won’t do, places you won’t go if you have accountability in your life. It is a guardrail in you spiritual life. Accountability brings life. I can’t get angry in traffic because they might show up at church. I saw you what were you saying and doing? I was casting out the devil from your car. I can’t be a jerk because they didn’t get my order right etc.

Proverbs 27:17  ¹⁷ As iron sharpens iron,     so one person sharpens another.

This is another reason small groups are so important.

**Accountability will help you achieve what you say you believe.

You need to write down who helps to hold you accountable. If you don’t have anyone ask God to show you who that needs to be. I am accountable to my wife. We share the same checking account, passwords etc. I am accountable to our leadership team etc. your assignment is to watch the super bowl and realize there is more than one person out on that field. We need each other.