"Are not five sparrows sold for two farthings, and not one of them is forgotten before God? But even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not therefore: ye are of more value than many sparrows."Luke 12:6-7

A good friend sent us this story. A well-known speaker started off his seminar by holding up a $20 bill. In the room of two hundred, he asked, "Who would like this $20 bill?" Hands immediately started going up. "I am going to give this $20 bill to one of you but first, let me do this." He proceeded to crumple the dollar bill up. He then asked, "Who still wants it?" Still, hands were up in the air. "Well," he replied, "What if I do this?" And he dropped it on the ground, spit on it and started to grind it into the floor with his shoe. He picked it up, now crumpled and dirty. "Still want it now?" Surprisingly, hands still didn't go down." "My friends, I think we've all learned a valuable lesson here. No matter what I did to this money, you still wanted it because it did not decrease in value. It was worth twenty whole dollars no matter what I did to it." "Often in our lives, we are dropped, crumpled, spit upon and ground into the dirt by the decisions we make and the circumstances that come our way. We feel as though we are worthless. Brothers & Sisters, but here's the kicker. No matter what has happened, we will never lose value in God's eyes. To Him, dirty or clean, crumpled or finely creased, we are still priceless. The worth of our lives does not come in who we are but by whose we are! Let's give our lives back to the Lord today, our disappointments, our suffering, our feelings of worthlessness. He is the God of healing. He has made us clean and worthy of our calling in Him! WHAT'S YOUR WORTH?

"Therefore they cried out to the Lord and said, "We pray, O Lord, please do not let us perish for this man's life, and do not charge us with innocent blood; for You, O Lord, have done as it pleased You."Jonah 1:14, 16

Then the men feared the Lord exceedingly, and offered a sacrifice to the Lord and took vows. While most read the story of Jonah focusing on Jonah's journey, I want to pause and examine the lives of the pagan sailors. What a journey they were on! We see the hand of God touching them providentially through Jonah's disobedience. Talk about God bringing good from evil. Here He draws them into a desperate sea voyage and almost incidentally reveals to them the impotence of their gods, who have no power whatsoever to stop the deadly storm. In their total helplessness the God of Heaven then introduces Himself through his runaway prophet. And suddenly, the sailors are crying out to God. They are not crying out to their gods any longer – but now are crying to the true God of Israel. And God performs a miracle for them, when Jonah is tossed into the sea, the storm suddenly calmed... and the amazing miracle evokes what sounds like prophesying, as they offer sacrifices and vows in worship toGod. "For You, O Lord, have done as you pleased!" The whole crew is converted. So, while Jonah is fish food – there's a revival happening on board. And now these wonder struck sailors have quite a fish story to tell in all their subsequent travels concerning the wayward prophet who disappeared beneath the waves as his God stilled the perfect storm. And the Lord has a boat full of newborn missionaries heading to Tarshish... Brothers & Sisters, our God desires all people throughout the world to hear His message. His providence is such that anywhere His servants find themselves becomes a place and a moment of opportunity for Him. The apostle Paul writes to Timothy "Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; [2 Timothy 4:2] Even Jonah's gross disobedience didn't stop the Lord from using him as a testimony. We need to be aware of who we are and what we carry for Jesus. His love and faithfulness to us is such that even our discipline can become a vehicle for expressing His love to the world. GOD IS REACHING ALL PEOPLE --- AND YOU ARE PART OF HIS PLAN!

"Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God."Hebrews 12:1-2

In 490 B.C., the Athenians won a crucial and decisive battle over the forces of King Darius I of Persia, on a plain near the Greek coastal town of Marathon. Upon delivering the important message of their victory, the Greek soldier who came to tell the good news died -- he had completed the 26 mile course running and bearing good news, and did it totally unreserved until the moment he died. Today marathons are run all over the world, commemorating that very event 2500 years ago. Anyone who has run a marathon can tell you how difficult the race is. No matter how good you are, how well trained, how prepared, there are times in the race you just want to quit. But those who persevere till the end receive a prize. Back in King Darius' day, one would win only a crown made of laurel leaves. Today, athletes compete for trophies and medals. But in God's race, we win something far more precious -- a crown that is incorruptible. Brothers & Sisters, I bet you're tired today. You are overworked, over-stressed, overwhelmed ... DONE! Be encouraged! Just when you think you can’t run any further, you can! C'mon! Press through and press on for the great prize! God is with us, strengthening our feeble knees and moving us in the right direction!! OUR CROWN AWAITS!

"And I said unto them, If ye think good, give me my price; and if not, forbear. So they weighed for my price thirty pieces of silver. And the LORD said unto me, Cast it unto the potter: a goodly price that I was valued by them. And I took the thirty pieces of silver, and cast them to the potter in the house of the LORD."Zechariah 11:12-13

In Matthew, we read that Judas betrayed Jesus to the Sanhedrin for thirty pieces of silver, fulfilling the prophecy of Zechariah. Zechariah foretold that the Messiah's price would be measured at a pittance; thirty pieces of silver. Can we imagine valuing a human life in terms of silver? Unthinkable enough...but then this is no ordinary life; it's the life of God's only Son. What value do you place on His life? How do you express the value Jesus has for you? Has a relationship with Him cost you anything? The Father valued us very highly. The price He paid for our redemption was His most precious Son's human life. Perhaps we need to re-evaluate our evaluation of our Savior. Brothers & Sisters, perhaps this weekend, reflect upon the Lord's evaluation of you – and then, your evaluation of Him!!!!!????? WHAT'S ITS WORTH?