PICK UP YOUR ROCKS

PICK UP YOUR ROCKS

Restoration Fellowship

Sunday morning, November 12, 2017

CONNECT There is an expression I’m sure most of you have heard, “Dumb as a rock”. But one rock has proven to be anything but dumb!

How many of you remember a huge sensation years ago called “The Pet Rock”?  Anybody have one?

According to Wikipedia: Pet Rock is a collectible conceived in 1975 by advertising executive Gary Dahl. In April 1975, he sat in a bar listening to his friends complain about their pets; this gave him the idea for the perfect "pet": a rock. A rock would not need to be fed, walked, bathed, or groomed, and it would not die, become sick, or be disobedient. Dahl said that they were to be the perfect pets and joked about it with his friends. He took his idea seriously, however, and drafted an "instruction manual" for a pet rock.

Care and Training of Your Pet Rock had instructions on how to properly raise and care for one's new Pet Rock (notably lacking instructions for feeding, bathing, and so on). The instruction manual was the real product, full of gags, puns and jokes, and contained several commands that could be taught to the new pet. While "sit" and "stay" were effortless to accomplish, "roll over" usually required a little extra help from the trainer. "Come," "stand" and "shake hands" were found to be near-impossible to teach; however, "attack" was fairly simple (also with some additional help from the owner). The owners also found that potty-training their pet rocks was fairly simple, given that they were, in fact, rocks.

Pet Rocks are really smooth stones from Mexico's Rosarito Beach. They were marketed like live pets, in custom cardboard boxes, complete with straw and breathing holes. The fad lasted about six months, ending after a short increase in sales during the Christmas season of December 1975. Although by February 1976 they were discounted due to lower sales, Dahl sold 1.5 million Pet Rocks for $4 each, and became a millionaire.

Pet Rocks are still available for around $13 at Amazon!

TENSION Rocks in the Scripture have a special place of honor. Listen to what Jesus said…

Luke 3:8 (NKJV) Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance, and do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I say to you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these rocks.”

Luke 19:40 (NKJV) But He answered and said to them, “I tell you that if these should keep silent, the rocks would immediately cry out.”

Mark Hayes wrote a beautiful hymn years ago and published it in a wonderful worship musical called Jubilate.  The chorus went like this…

If we keep our voices silent

All creation will rise and shout

If we fail to praise You, Father

Then will the very rocks cry out

An old Gospel song says, Ain’t gonna be no rocks crying out in my place!

Bethel worship, I won't le the rocks cry out!

Israel had quite a relationship with rocks. They called them altars, or memorials.  They were usually nothing more than a stack of rocks or stones, but they had a significance to them. They were markers of God’s intervention in their lives.

All of us have had a rocky road to walk or a rocky wall to climb at one time or another.

SOLUTION I want us to see today how we can take the rocks that the enemy throws our way and turn them into a memorial to God’s grace and power.

TEXT Joshua 4:1-24 (NKJV)

INSTRUCTION

Joshua actually set up two altars…

Joshua 4:9 (NKJV) Then Joshua set up twelve stones in the midst of the Jordan, in the place where the feet of the priests who bore the ark of the covenant stood; and they are there to this day.

This altar could only be built if the river was not running!  This was an undeniable testament to what had happened.

Joshua 4:20 (NKJV) And those twelve stones which they took out of the Jordan, Joshua set up in Gilgal.

This altar was the first action Israel performed in the promised land.  When God brings us into a new place, we should always remember to honor Him first!

What was the purpose of the altar, the memorial?

1.     A testimony to the children.

The greatest legacy you can leave to your kids is stories about God’s work in your life!

Joshua 4:21-23 (NKJV) Then he spoke to the children of Israel, saying: “When your children ask their fathers in time to come, saying, ‘What are these stones?’ then you shall let your children know, saying, ‘Israel crossed over this Jordan on dry land’; for the LORD your God dried up the waters of the Jordan before you until you had crossed over, as the LORD your God did to the Red Sea, which He dried up before us until we had crossed over,”

2.     A testimony to the world.

Joshua 4:24 (NKJV) that all the peoples of the earth may know the hand of the LORD, that it is mighty, that you may fear the LORD your God forever.”

The greatest tool of ministry to the world is your testimony!  What’s your story?

APPLICATION

How do we build altars today?

Mark 14:9 (NKJV) “Assuredly, I say to you, wherever this gospel is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be told as a memorial to her.”

1.  We build altars through praise and worship.

Acts 10:4 (NKJV) And when he observed him, he was afraid, and said, “What is it, lord?” So, he said to him, “Your prayers and your alms have come up for a memorial before God.”

2.  We built altars though prayer and giving.

INSPIRATION Don't let the rocks cry out!

As we approach Thanksgiving, take time to build a memorial of what God has done in your life and family.

1.  Talk with your family about what God has done.

2.  Record a video, write a journal, put a photo collection together...

3.  Share it!

HASHTAG #rockscryout