Learning From Mary's Mistakes

Praise be to God Amen, I'm gonna direct your attention to the book of Luke chapter 2 Verse number 41 We'll read verses 41 through 45 and as you're turning there I want to give honor to Your school leadership Sister Harpole and sister Wallace the many staff pastor Andrew teachers and Of course the parents that make it possible for you to be here and I honor them Luke chapter 2 Beginning at verse number 41 The Bible says now this is speaking of Jesus when he is 12 years old now his parents went to Jerusalem Every year at the Feast of the Passover When he was 12 years old they went up to Jerusalem after the custom of the feast When they had fulfilled the days as they return the child Jesus tarried behind in Jerusalem Joseph and his mother knew not of it But they supposing him to have been in the company when a day's journey They sought him among their kinsfolk and

acquaintance When they found him not they turned back again to Jerusalem seeking him And I want to talk to you for a few minutes today on this subject learning from Mary's mistakes Amen, let's pray Jesus. I thank you for each one that's here today I asked that you would help our minds to be attentive But above all that our hearts would be tender towards your word We want to receive what you would say to us So we want to grow in our walk in relationship with you we pray in Jesus name and everybody said amen All right. God bless you. You may be seated. How many here love their mom all you who didn't raise your hand. You're in trouble The Lord is watching the I Was shared a video some time ago that that detailed all of the the jobs that a mother does and It estimated that even a stay-at-home mother in 2024 would would have a salary equivalent

to an excess of a hundred thousand dollars, so Needless to say mums are pretty important and I don't advocate that we try to find fault with our our parents, but As we see in this story today and as we know in life nobody is perfect And I want to talk to you today about a mistake that Mary made but not really just a mistake that she made Because as we look to the scripture, we'll find out that this is really a mistake that all of us are tempted to make Bible was speaking of the feast of the Passover It was an annual celebration where Jews would come from all over the country and return to the city of Jerusalem seven days of celebration and what they were remembering was the time that the Passover happened and their Deliverance out of Egypt and so this was the Jews way of gathering every year Together families from all different parts of the country would come

to Jerusalem and they would celebrate by Remembering how God delivered their family so many centuries before They would worship they would feast they would thank God Because they refused to forget what God had done in their past now By modern roads if you were to go to Israel today Where Mary travels from to the city of Jerusalem is a hundred and forty three kilometers on those Israeli roads today But we're talking about a day where there was no paved roads. There's no motorized vehicles They're riding on the backs of camels and carts and perhaps by foot So this is no small journey But they do it because they value God and they refuse to forget what God has done in their life so seven days of celebration seven days of Revival church services and feasts and fun and Fellowship and at the conclusion of this seven-day feast that the Bible said happened every single year When it was fulfilled Mary and Joseph

return and the Bible said that Jesus stays behind in Jerusalem and Joseph and his mother Knew not of it. They supposed him to have been in the company. They go a day's journey Seeking him among their kinsfolk and acquaintance their family and their friends. I Can I confess to you today There's some days I would like to leave my kids somewhere But I don't There's some days I would like to lock them out of the house, but I don't Mainly when they come in from playing with the water hose covered in mud like they did last night, but see there's this thing called responsibility that you have as an adult and as a parent and so It's somewhat troubling to me that we read in the Bible how they begin walking home And they get a whole day's journey towards home before they even realize Jesus is not there When they come to this realization they start asking their family and their friends

and so I Want to talk to you about Mary's mistake and this was mistake number one She assumed that Jesus was there She operated on assumption and I would challenge us today that assumption is a dangerous thing Because assumption will keep you from praying Assumption will keep you from reading your Bible Assumption will keep you from going to church because it will tell you things like this You know, it's not a big deal if I just miss one Sunday because Someone else who missed one Sunday showed up the next Sunday and they were okay. So I just assume it will be okay if I do this It's not a big deal if I don't pray today or I don't read my Bible today because There was that one day last week that I didn't do it. And so I just assume it will be okay Assumptions a dangerous thing Assumption can cause you to believe that you have a relationship that you don't

really have When in fact Mary and Joseph should have done the necessary thing they should have made sure That Jesus was with them they just assumed and this was the first mistake they assumed Assumption will keep us from prayer. It'll keep us from Bible reading It'll keep us from being faithful because we just assume God will be there like he's always been there How many have heard the story of Samson? This is what the writer of judges says and judges 16 and 20 Delilah tells him the Philistines are upon you Samson He awakes out of his sleep and he says this is what he says in the face of great struggle and temptation. I Will go out as at other times before and shake myself This is Samson saying no big deal. I know how to deal with these guys I'm just gonna do the same thing. I've done every other time But the next verse or the next sentence says he whist

not that the Lord was departed from him He did not even realize that God was nowhere near him How does this happen? It happens because you just assume That it'll always be like it was Assumption is a dangerous thing His error was assuming Mary's error was assuming and our mistake can be the same We can just assume that life will always be good. They'll always be another day. They'll always be another chance But I come with a challenging word today to caution us That assumption as it pertains to spiritual responsibility is a grave mistake The second mistake was that when she comes to the realization that he's nowhere to be found The Bible says she looks among her kinsfolk her family and her acquaintances her friends She is confronted with the fact that she has wrongly assumed. She has neglected her spiritual responsibility and her moral responsibility and Now she supposes that hopefully somebody else has picked up my slack and assumed the

responsibility I was not willing to to assume And so she's now asking family perhaps siblings or cousins and aunts and uncles and have you seen Jesus does anybody know where Jesus is and Nobody knows now she moves beyond family thinking that obviously that would be the logical first place She would look but now she's she's asking friends and perhaps thinking of those that she can recall Jesus having played with and spent time with presuming that one of these friends is going to know where he is and now She's asking them. Do you have you seen him? Do you have any idea where he may be? To no avail Nobody knows where he is and this is the second mistake is she was depending on somebody else to know where Jesus was So the first mistake was to assume the second mistake Was to put the responsibility on somebody else I've come to challenge us today because as we draw to the conclusion of

a school year And while we rage about a month of revival in April it's May now and just like the Feast of the Passover had concluded and The joyous celebration and the expectations of great things and the routines that they had fulfilled had concluded Here we stand just a couple weeks from the conclusion of a school year a month of revival is already a thing of the past and If we're not careful, we will make the exact same mistake There is no difficulty in the text. They know where Jesus is and they know what he's doing While the feast is in process and while they're gathering at the house of worship The striking reality of the story does not confront us until they leave the feast and begin the journey home And so it is when school is over and we walk into summer But not even just in the 12 month calendar year. So it is when When pastor dismisses on sunday

and we walk out those doors How often do we find ourselves confronted with these same mistakes? forgetting jesus in the corporate gathering Leaving god in the building no big deal though. We just assume he he's going to be there when I need him right Until one day he's not Oh I just Surely someone's going to know where he is until they they don't because The old saying goes birds of a feather flock together And typically if you find yourself Living in a manner where you don't know where jesus is chances are you've surrounded yourself with people who don't know where he is I come with a challenging word today because my heart is heavy I have a 38 year old brother-in-law today in a hospital with 8 heart function by drug use raised in an apostolic church Raised in the home of a preacher Who yesterday on facetime said things like this? Well, I'm just glad to have a second lease

on life and Living with an assumption that it's just going to be okay I know I come with the strong word today But my heart is heavy Because god is not interested In spiritual masks and pretend spirituality God is looking for people's hearts And as much Is I would love To pray for you and as much as we would love for teachers and parents and staff and pastor and sister tammy to do it for you What we're learning from this mistake is that Nobody can do it for you You can't depend on somebody else's spirituality You have to find him for yourself And when they come to the realization that not only I don't know where he is None of my family and none of my friends know where he is What do they do? How many here have ever lost something before? And you go to your parent and you're complaining and well, I can't find it and what your parents say

well, where is the last place You had it Well, the last place I remember seeing him was in Jerusalem. So They turned back and go to Jerusalem Now let's let's do a little math here The bible said they were one day's journey towards home So if they walk one day in that direction And they walk one day in this direction. How many days have passed? Two But the bible says it was three days before they find him So by my math one day walking this way One day walking back to jerusalem And a whole day Looking for him Now well, I celebrate the fact that they find him because they're seeking him It took them a whole day Now the story in the scripture it does not explicitly tell us why but can I offer you my opinion? Because they looked Probably where every other 12 year old boy was hanging out So when they get back to jerusalem and they walk by

the city park They they see a group of kids on the basketball court and there's a group of kids playing kickball And they run over there and there's another group playing pickleball and they're going have you seen jesus? No, we haven't seen him don't last time we saw him was when the feast ended when revival ended Oh, no last time I saw him was was on that sunday night revival. I haven't seen them since holiday youth convention I haven't saw them since youth retreat Have you do you to worry it? No, we don't but you know what if you go down around the corner johnny lives in that red house on the corner and johnny hangs out with the kids that play video games until two o'clock in the morning Maybe check those kids Oh, you know mary knocks on the door. Hey, we're just looking for jesus is jesus here No, haven't seen him last time I saw him was when

we ate together during the revival during the feast They're looking at all the places that it would seem At 12 year old boy would be but he's not in any of those places He's not on the playground. He's not playing video games. He's not in the backyard And when they find him the bible says he's sitting in the temple Talking to to doctors and scribes and students of the law about the scripture and these well educated men are amazed At the ability of this 12 year old boy And he looks at his mother who comes in and says why have you done this to us? Do do you realize how worried I was? Now you know If my kids get out get out of their mother's sight for like five minutes, you know She's she's ready to call and search and rescue because she didn't see them out the window and This is how mums are wired To care there's concern and she's

already convicted because she's neglected her responsibility and now You know frantic and emotional she finds him and she says why have you done this to us? And he looks back at her and says don't you know I have to be about my father's business See I know he's god, but he has chosen to limit himself to the reality of human experience And so he is growing in his knowledge and his understanding And this is the point in jesus life where he comes to the realization of who he is He's a messiah He knows that one day i'm going to have to give my life for the salvation of humanity and here he is looking back at His mother saying don't you know? Mom weren't you the one that was visited by an angel didn't god tell you who i was and what i would do Don't you know and while he realizes this He stays submitted to her Because the bible says he

goes home and is subject unto them But i highlight this for our attention today There comes a point in every one of our lives Where we understand who we are before god And what god has called us to do And it causes us To live different than all the other kids Now i'm not i'm not your parent i'm not your pastor There's decisions that you're going to have to make in counsel and submission with your parents and your spiritual authority over the course of your life But i will tell you today now we're blessed because we've we've got life academy And we can enjoy a lot of things within the the refuge and the safety Of of life academy as it pertains to sports and activities that we don't have to get tangled up with the world and enjoy them i'm going to tell you something today They're going to come a point in your life Where you're going to have to choose

If you want to be the 12 year old boy in the temple giving your life to the things of god Or if You want to just be out on the playground where all the other kids are When she realized jesus wasn't there and she begins to search for him Ultimately she comes To this realization if i'm going to find him I will only find him among the things that matter to him I must be about my father's business She finds him in the house Talking about the scripture Because if you are looking for god you will only find him in the things that matter to him And i challenge us today Because while i know we have a diversity of grades and ages and we're in different seasons of life This is what i'm certain of there will come a point that all of us from the youngest to the oldest Will have a moment Like jesus had And a moment like mary

had Where we will be tempted to live on assumption and depend on somebody else But nobody else can pray for you jesus said if any man Wants to follow me He must deny himself Take up his cross and follow me I can't deny you for you Your parents can't follow jesus for you Pastor can't carry your cross for you You have to do it And you cannot do it with assumption or depending on somebody else And there will come a point When if you're looking for jesus you're going to find him among the things that matter most to him And that may require you to say no to some other things And no to some other activities no to certain people no to certain hobbies Maybe not because they're bad But just because if you want jesus You're going to have to invest yourself in your life and the things that matter to him She assumed he was there he was not She

depended that someone else would make sure he was there, but they did not And when she purposed that I need to find him for myself She found him In the house of god talking about the word of god And the same is true today If we need to find god That's why we have this building It's a testimony to this city Of lives that have been changed and hope that has been found And every time someone drives by it's a testimony that hey if you need to find god you can find him in this building. You know why? Thank god. Thank god for for the royals. Thank god for a beautiful basketball court and thank god for golf and thank god for pickleball It's all good and it's all fun, but if they're going to find god, that's not why They're going to find god because in this house We are in the word of god My challenge for you today Is that

you would not lose What you have been given over this school year? Or last month or what you'll get this sunday When you walk out the doors And you begin your journey home Because that is the danger The danger is that well we celebrate the feast and we rejoice over revival and we thank god for learning and moves of the spirit and Profound preaching and The danger is when we walk out those doors And we go home Many many times in my life have I observed people in places Who celebrated what was happening corporately But they neglected what should have been happening personally And can I tell you as someone who's ministry started preaching to four people in a living room? That's that's where my preaching life began sitting in the living room with three other people That we're blessed with this building When there's 800 people we're blessed But there's a grave danger Because we can rejoice about this big building And

we can thank god for 800 people in a choir and it's just there's so much that's exciting But when we rejoice about everything that's happening corporately It gets real easy to neglect what's happening in that seat right there And my challenge for you today Is that you would never live your life on assumption That you would develop the necessary habits and disciplines and spiritual practices To read your bible to pray to really walk with god for yourself Don't just don't just portray the image but that you would really give god your heart Don't depend on anybody else You have to do it for yourself Don't think your parents are going to do it for you don't think pastor is going to do it for you Don't think pastor andrew can do it for you. You have to find god for yourself But the good news is If you will take a step towards him He will take a step towards you James said

if you will draw an eye into god god will draw an eye into you Just stand together with me learning from mary's mistakes That i will not live on assumption And i will not depend on anybody else If i'm going to find him I'm going to find him among the things that matter to him If i'm going to have a relationship with jesus, it's because i'm investing myself Into the things that matter to him I'm in his word I'm talking to him by prayer I'm coming to his house. I'm testifying of his goodness. I'm sharing the gospel of jesus christ Would you close your eyes for just a moment and would you ask god to just search your heart God i'm so thankful for today for our great church. I'm thankful for this school God what i would have given to have been raised in an atmosphere like this But lord i know that while there's so much to rejoice about collectively If

you shine the spotlight upon individual seats and individual hearts in this room today There are some Who have been walking through the motions of life and don't really know where you are or what you're doing It's not because they're bad god. It's not because they're evil people It's just because it's so easy in the busyness of life and the cares of this world to just walk in assumption But i'm asking today that you would deliver us from the bondage of assuming And that you would stir our hearts with a desire and a hunger for you that we would seek you for ourselves That we would know you for ourselves I pray that you would give These children and teenagers their own experiences and their own stories Father i'm asking today That you would raise them up just like you raised up yourself in that story If at the age of 12 lord you could come to the realization that your life was about

more than stonework and buildry and carpentry But there was a divine purpose Then surely that can be said of these students I pray god that you would help these children and teenagers develop prayer lives and walks with you I pray lord that you would raise them up as men and women of god I pray that you would fill their mouths with words of prophecy I'm asking god that you would let them be used in the gifts of the spirit Let us be about our father's business god We're committing our lives to you that you would use us for your glory and for your purpose Help us now god that we would learn from the mistakes That we will walk in the truth That we would serve you in the sincerity and faithfulness all the days of our lives In the mighty name of jesus christ In jesus name would you just lift your hands high we're we're we're done We're going to dismiss

here in just a second, but would you just close your eyes and lift up your hands as a sign of surrender to the lord Jesus we're surrendering our lives We're surrendering our wills God I know there's some with uncertainty and doubt But you said that if we would draw not unto you you would draw not unto us And i'm asking that you would confirm your word in the reality of your power in their life In jesus name I pray In jesus name I'll leave you with this Ezekiel had a vision of a temple in an altar and water flowed out From that altar The bible said he saw a man with a line in his hand and he measured a thousand cubits And it was to the ankles and a thousand cubits to the knees and a thousand cubits to the loins and then thousand more And he said it was waters to swim in Here's the point The farther he got from

the house of god The deeper the water got But all too often We've got it backwards The farther we get from god's house sometimes the shallower the water gets When really the farther we get from the house it should get deeper the principle is this The deepest experiences we have with the lord Don't happen here This is just where we get introduced to him This is just the point of origin This is just where it starts But the farther we walk the deeper the water should get The more Can I be honest with you? I walk out of a lot of sunday services frustrated Because I know how far god could take us And I know how little we go So how do you know that because i've had experiences with god all by myself And I know what god can do in the experiences you can have But when we get in the corporate setting there's a lot of things we're dealing

with and This this is what I want you to know If you'll give god a chance god will give you experiences in the privacy of your bedroom That could so transform your life Let's give the lord a hand clap of praise