Welcome to the Potter's House Salmon Arm podcast. We are a Bible-Believing Church located
in beautiful British Columbia, Canada. We are proudly part of the Christian Fellowship
Ministries with 3,000 churches around the world. We are a church focused on world evangelism,
discipleship and church planting. Here we will share recent sermons from P.H.S.A. Church
and other sermons from throughout our fellowship. I am Pastor David Bickford and I will be your
host for this podcast. I thank you for listening today and we hope these messages are a blessing
to you and bring you closer to God.
Hello and welcome back to the podcast. I have a message I've entitled today, A 3M Sermon
on Movement, Momentum and Motivation. I want to take a moment to thank you all who are
listening and subscribing and sharing this podcast. The goal of this podcast is simply
to bring forth the gospel of Jesus Christ, the simple gospel that Jesus is the Son of
God. He was sent to be God incarnate and through His sacrifice on the cross He has made it
possible for us to be redeemed from our life of sin. Repent of your sin and give your life
to Jesus Christ. You will make heaven your home. You will have salvation through grace
from our Father in heaven. That's as simple as it can get. Today I put together a message
called A 3M Sermon, Movement, Momentum and Motivation. I just want to say, Lord I pray
that you will open our ears, our hearts and our minds to your word. Amen. So let's go
ahead and look at our text as a jumping off point today. That's going to be John 5 verses
1 through 9. This is the healing pool on the Sabbath story from the gospel of John. Verse
1 it says, After this there was a feast of the Jews and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. Now
there was in Jerusalem by the sheep gate a pool in Aramaic called Bethesda, which has
five roofed colonnades. In these lay a multitude of invalids, blind, lame and paralyzed, waiting
for the moving of the waters. For an angel of the Lord went down at a certain season
in the pool and stirred the water. Whoever stepped in first after the stirring of the
water was healed of whatever disease he had. One man was there who had been an invalid
for 38 years and when Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had already been there
a long time, he said to him, Do you want to be healed? The sick man answered him, Sir,
I have no one to put me into the pool when the water stirred up. And while I am going
and, you know, one, and while I'm going another steps down before me. Jesus said to him, Get
up and take your bed and walk. And at once the man was healed and he took up his bed
and walked. So as an intro to this, this message, I just want to, you know, talk a little bit
about the live hard program. This is something that I've been doing for the last couple of
years. This is not a Christian program. This is, but this is a mindset program that I stumbled
across. It's been very useful to me and in my life. And so I started back on this, this
program, you know, a while back and I was in the third phase of this larger program.
And I got to tell you, this program is truly hard. This is, this is what I had to do during
this period of time. I had to follow a diet. It was a diet of my own choice. I mostly eat
like a ketogenic diet because of inflammatory reasons from previous injuries from the military,
some nerve damage and stuff like that. So, so eating a ketogenic diet helps me to mitigate,
you know, inflammation in my body. So that's what the diet I had to follow. I also had
to do two 45 minute workouts and one of those 45 minute workouts has to be outside regardless
of weather. I had to do three critical power list items and those are things that you choose
or you're choosing as well. So these are three goals that you want to accomplish that you
feel are going to help you win the day. And then with this phase, I also had, you know,
with a couple of the phases of this program, you have to take five minute cold showers
and then you also have to go out and talk to a stranger every day. You have to take
a selfie to just gauge your progress. You have to drink a gallon of water every day.
You have to read 10 pages of a nonfiction book, some sort of book that's going to help
you again to achieve your goals and life. So you could have that being read 10 pages
of the Bible every day if you want to focus in on your spiritual growth, but you have
to do that every day. And then no alcohol or cheat meals, which is fine. I haven't
drinking in over 20 years and you know, cheat meals. If you're eating, you know, a strict
ketogenic diet, you don't have a lot of room for cheat meals because that's a lot of carbs
typically and that'll take you out off a program. And then you also have to do like a random
act of kindness. Now, something of this random act of kindness that's interesting is it can
be something like picking up trash in and around your area. It could be, you know, going
and helping somebody specifically, or it could be, you know, donating to a group or some
sort of charity. So these are all things you have to do, but you have to do this stuff
in the third phase of the Live Hard program. You have to do this every day for 30 days.
And if you miss a day, not only do you fail phase three, but you end up failing the whole
Live Hard program for the year because you have to do phase three of this program within
the last 30 days of the year long program. So this is a challenging mental toughness
kind of program. So what's the point of this craziness? Like, why do I bring up this, this
mental toughness challenge in reference to the sermon? The point for me was when I started
this program, you know, it's been about almost two years ago that I started, you know, getting
into this, this program. I'm currently, it's, I guess, a year and a half. I'm currently
about, you know, halfway through the second year of Live Hard right now. And the goal
for me was to stop making excuses. Oftentimes we'll sit idly by waiting for someone else
to do the work for us. And we're all searching for that easy button. The reality is there's
no easy button in life. What we're told in the scripture is that we have to move in order
to start seeing our path forward. Movement is the first step and it will be the first
M that we look at during this message as well. But before we go there, I would like to give
you a little bit, you know, of another, you know, illustration, something that I find
pretty interesting because there's probably another 3M that you may have heard of. 3M
is a company that's been around a long time and it has a very rich history. And I've had
the privilege of selling some 3M products and different roles that I've had in my sales
career. But I just, I think it's, I think it's an inspiring story here. So let's look
at the 3M as a company. More than a century ago, 3M started as a small scale mining venture
in Northern Minnesota. Then at that point in time, it was named Minnesota Mining and
Manufacturing Company. But now as a global powerhouse, their products improved the daily
lives of people around the world. But their success and longevity were not apparent from
the start. They tried, they failed, they tried something new. Repeating that cycle over and
over again, innovation and perseverance drove their founders and it continues to drive what
they like to consider themselves or call themselves today 3M-ers, even in today's history.
I have a friend who works for 3M and he is, so he's definitely a 3M-er. He works with
the, with a specific part of the industry that focuses on automated automotive products
and in the sense of like paint and, and, you know, sealants and coatings and different things,
abrasives to a certain extent. He's very proud of the work that he does with 3M. And when
I was selling 3M product, it was mostly on the health and safety standpoint or product
lines. So respirators, different, different kinds of, you know, medical equipment and
things of that nature. But anyway, 3M came from humble beginnings and now today it's
a Fortune 500 company. When it began in 1902, the five founders had a simple goal to mine
for corundum, a mineral that was ideal for making sandpaper grinding wheels. But what
it turns out that they thought corundum was really a diff, you know, what they thought
they had was corundum was really another low grade mineral called anortho, anortho-site.
Discovering the poor quality mineral could have caused an early end to the fledgling
company, but their founder persisted. Why did he persist? Because something more important
was born that first year, the spirit of innovation and collaboration that forms the foundation
of 3M today. So instead of calling it quits, they turned to a different material, applied
them to other products and gained the trust of an important investors and built up sales
little by little. Scientific and technical marketing innovations produce the success
upon success over the years, eventually making 3M a constant name on the Fortune 500 list.
Today more than 60,000 3M products are used in homes, businesses, schools, hospitals and
other industries. One third of their sales come from products invented within the past
five years. Thanks to those innovations from thousands of researchers and scientists that
are 3M employees around the world. With corporate operations in over 70 countries and sales
in over 200 countries, they're committed to creating a technology and products that
advance every company, enhance every home and improve every life. Now I'm not trying
to sell you on 3M, I just think it's relevant to the overall idea of this message, which
is that movement creates momentum, momentum creates motivation and motivation paired with
determination maintains perpetual movement. So I'll say that again, movement creates momentum,
momentum creates motivation and motivation paired with determination maintains perpetual
movement. So that brings me to my first point, which is movement. When we look at this story
in the Bible, like from that we read, you know, at the very beginning and John five
verses one through nine, the healing pool on the Sabbath, what we see is that and what
should resonate with you is that when God heals, when God blesses, when God moves, he
expects us to move also. There is an expectancy from the Lord that we pick ourselves up and
get moving. Why do you think that that is like, what do you think is the purpose behind
that? What is it about movement that is so important to the kingdom of God and even to
our own lives, our own health and our own mindset. In acts nine, 32 through 35, we see
the healing of Ananias. Now, now as Peter went here and there among them all, he came
down also to the saints who lived at Lydia. There he found a man named Ananias bedridden
for eight years who was paralyzed. And Peter said to him, Ananias, Jesus Christ heals you,
rise and make your bed. And immediately he rose in all the residents of Lydia and Sharon
saw him. They and they turned to the Lord. In acts 12, six through nine, Peter is rescued.
We see in this portion of scripture. So let's go ahead and read verse six. Now when Herod
was about to bring him out on that very night, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers bound
with two chains and centuries before the door regarding the prison. And behold, an angel
of the Lord stood next to him and a light shown in the cell. And he struck Peter on
the side and woke him saying, get up quickly. And the chains fell off of his hands. And
the angel said to him, dress yourself, put on your sandals. And he did so. And he said
to him, wrap your cloak around you and follow me. And when he went out and followed him,
when Jesus prayed for the sick, he expected something to happen in the recipient of the
gift. There is a built in need for us to move when we, when we squash that need to become
sickly in either mind or spirit. In the article titled, how simply moving benefits your mental
health from Harvard, we can see that it is true that the movement has some power to heal.
While it is obvious that your feelings can influence your movement, it is not as obvious
that your movement can impact your feelings too. For example, when you feel tired and
sad, you may move more slowly. When you feel anxious, you may either rush around or become
completely paralyzed. But recent studies show that the connection between your brain and
your body is a two way street. And that means movement can change your brain too. This two
way street is part of the reason why movement is needed when God moves. Our faith is strengthened
when we move in faith. You will never grow your faith by sitting around and waiting for
God to move. Yes, it is true that God can move on your behalf, but let's be real. But
let's be real here. Let's back up. Let's think about this. If you have any relationship
with God, then he has moved and now it is your turn. When God decided to judge the earth
with the flood, he said to Noah to build an ark and Noah by faith began moving. We see
this in Genesis six, 13 through 14 in the verse 22. And God said to Noah, I have determined
to make an end of all flesh for the earth is filled with violence through, through them.
Behold, I will destroy them with the earth. Make yourself an ark of gopher wood, make
rooms in the ark and cover it inside and out with pitch. In verse 22, Noah did this. He
did all that God had commanded him. When Abraham was called by God, he moved by faith. Genesis
12, one, one through five. Now the Lord said to Abraham, go from your country and your
kindred and your father's house and to the land that I will show you. And I will make
of you a great nation and I will bless you and make your name great so that you will
be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you and him who dishonors you. I will curse
and in you and all the families of the earth shall be blessed. So Abraham went as the Lord
had told him and lot went with him. Abraham was 75 years old when he departed from Iran.
These are just two examples of movement by faith. Even with these two examples, though,
we can see a pattern that's being set. God speaks and then we're expected to by faith
move. We are created to move our bodies and are designed for movement and our minds are
built to learn and to be challenged. In fact, studies show that there are several ways to
reduce age related decline like dimension, Alzheimer's, and that's through exercise,
diet and mental exercise. So that brings me to my next point, which is momentum. And Deuteronomy
34 seven says Moses was 120 years old when he died. His I eyes were undimmed and his
vigor unabated. And second Timothy four seven, I have fought the good fight. I have finished
the race. I have kept the fate. Now that we have talked about movement, let's look at
the inertia before we get to movement or momentum. In science, inertia is the property of matter
that stays at rest or continues moving in a straight line. So long as it's not acted
upon by an external force. This is also Newton's first law of motion. Inertia, an object at
rest tends to stay at rest unless acted upon by an outside force. Here's a simple illustration.
The car had a change in motion or momentum, but the giraffe resisted the change. Ouch.
Still confused? That car resisted the change in motion or, you know, or momentum of the
giraffe. It's inertia kept it still. So inertia describes an object's resistance to change
in motion or lack of motion. And momentum describes how much motion it has. When we
consider earlier point that God speaks and then there is an expectation of movement on
our part, we can see that God is that external force that is being applied to us to push
us out of our state of stillness. Momentum is your force or the speed of movement, but
inertia is what keeps you going. That is why it's important to, that's why it's important
to this point. God calls us to move by faith, therefore pushing us out of our inertia or
of stillness. As we move and live by faith, our momentum or movement is now in a new direction.
God continues to challenge us to move forward and that force increases our momentum. And
now our inertia is tied to that movement. Let's go back to the live hard program and
why I would do something this ridiculous. I tend to have a personality that wavers between
idleness and excessiveness. What do I mean by that? I mean, I can easily fall into extreme
laziness or I can be compelled into extreme activeness. Some would characterize me as
being either, uh, you know, zero miles per hour or a hundred miles per hour with no in
between. So for me, it's incredibly useful to have a plan laid out before me to keep
challenging me, to keep pushing me to the finish line. The point of the live hard program
is mental toughness. It's not a fitness, but the reality is that when you work on your
mental toughness, you will see benefits in all areas of your life. Now let's tie this
back to the word of God in our texts. We see that Jesus healed the invalid of 38 years.
If we pick up this portion of scripture and we, and we go back, you know, in verse 10,
we get to see the rest of the story. So John five, 10 through 17, now that day was the
Sabbath. So the Jews said to the man who had been healed, it is the Sabbath and it is not
lawful for you to take up your bed. But he answered them, the man who healed me, that
man said to me, take up your bed and walk. They asked him, who is this man who said to
you take up your bed and walk? Now the man who had been healed did not know who it was
for Jesus had withdrawn. And as there was a crowd in a crowd in the place, afterward
Jesus found him in the temple and said to him, see you are well, sit no more that nothing
worse may happen to you. The man went away and told the Jews that it was Jesus who healed
him. And this was why the Jews were persecuting Jesus because he was doing these things on
the Sabbath. But Jesus answered them, my father is working until now and I am working. God
wants us to move, he exerts force upon us when he moves, but it requires our faith to
be the catalyst and to get us moving in his direction. Here we see the paralyzed man was
healed by Jesus and he by faith got up and moved. That in the end and of itself is not
enough for God though. He wants us to use that new inertia to move in his direction
to continue accelerate and gain more momentum. That's why Jesus goes back to the man and
tells him, sit no more. We're all called to leave behind our past idleness and move
toward God. Gaining momentum, growing in faith, God gives us clear instructions in the Bible
and we should follow the pattern and move in faith. This brings me to my final point
which is motivation. This 3M idea is a circular idea. Movement creates momentum, momentum creates
motivation. Motivation paired with determination maintains perpetual movement. So as I close
let's look at motivation. Often times we look at motivation as happening first. This can
be true but in the sense of salvation we are first prompted by the Holy Spirit. Paul was
not motivated to convert to Christianity by his own motivation. Paul's conversion happened
through divine intervention and we can see that in Acts 9 verses 1 through 19. We see
that his story throughout the entire Bible God intervenes and that is the first spark
of faith or motivation that gets us moving. That is not what I'm talking about here though.
What I'm looking at here is the fruit that comes from moving and building a history of
movement or momentum. As we look at before inertia is a state of being. We are either
idle or in some state of movement but whatever that state of inertia is the force that will
either keep us moving or keep us still outside of any other force. But praise God we're moving
now. We are increasing in faith and we have built a good head of steam or momentum. How
do we keep it? How do we maintain our focus, direction or faith? This is what Paul was
talking about in 2 Timothy 4.7. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race,
I have kept the faith. This is what Jesus was talking about when he healed the paralytic.
In John 5.14 it says after where Jesus found him in the temple it said, See you are well,
sin no more that nothing worse may happen to you. We have to fight to maintain our movement
and our momentum. How do we go about this is what sets apart those who persevere for
Christ and those who abandon Christ. I am motivated versus I am determined. In a lot
of conversations you could probably say either sentence and get the same idea across yet
there is a difference. To put in the words of executive coach Jamie Durahee, motivation
is what gets you started, determination is what helps you finish what you've started.
If we are determined to do something we will stay on it even after the initial motivation
disappears. Here is an idea, here is an illustration of the idea, doing nothing at all versus making
small consistent efforts. So if you take 1.00 and you put that to the power of 365 that
is doing nothing at all you will end with 1.00. If on the other hand you are doing even
the most minute efforts so you are at 1.01 and you multiply that for the year so you
put it to the power of 365 that equals out to 37.7. So the smallest incremental increase
can create dramatic results when compared to sitting in idleness. This works out with
playing music and learning a new instrument or learning a new language. If you practice
even five minutes a day on something at the end of the year you would have practiced many
many minutes and you are going to be way further ahead with whatever that task or hobby is
whether it is music or a language than you would be if you did nothing every day. Some
people say I wish I could learn French or I wish I could learn the piano but they will
spend zero time a day on it and then they get no results from it. Whereas the people
who spend even the smallest amount of time on it can come back the next year and say
I made some improvement. So in closing we need a track record, a movement that shows
our act of faith. This movement over time builds momentum and inertia caused by that
movement and an increasing momentum is what will provide us the motivation and determination
to break through walls, overcome obstacles and persist in our faith till the end. So
in closing I would just say take up your bed and walk. Do what little you can do every
day because even what little you can do every day is better than doing nothing. If all you
can do is read a verse a day of the Bible then do that. If all you can do is pray for
a couple minutes a day then do that and over time try to increase and strengthen those
things making yourself incrementally better every week, every month, every year. But just
like Jesus told the paralytic take up your bed and walk and he actually says later on
right he says sin no more. Because if God has set you free from the bondage of sin then
we should be consistently trying to move closer to Christ because that's what it means to
be Christian to be Christ like. We're striving towards perfection. We're never going to
reach it here on earth but it doesn't give you an excuse not to strive for it. So take
up your bed and walk. If I could have every head bowed every eye closed real quick of
course if you need to keep your eyes on the road please do. I know it's a stupid joke
and I say it every time but you know just humor me. If this message has impacted you
in any way and you've recognized that you know what I know I'm a sinner but I know that
Jesus died for my sins and I want to accept him you can do that you can signify that with
an uplifted hand I can't see it but God can and he knows your heart. I'll never know your
heart but he knows your heart. So if that's you then just repeat this simple prayer after
me dear Lord God I know that I'm a sinner but I know that your son Jesus died on the
cross for my sins I turn from my sin and accept Jesus as my Lord and my Savior I thank you
for the gift of grace that washes away all my sins and for salvation in Jesus Christ
amen. Very simple prayer and if you said that with conviction and meaning in your heart
I know that you felt a difference in your life and I know that God's going to help you.
He promises that he's going to help you. So what do you do next right? That's always the
question well what I recommend is you get a good Bible you start reading a little bit
every day you can get the U version app there's all sorts of translations on there it's free
and you can read the Bible every day. I recommend you pray even for a little bit every day and
then you know the last thing is find a Bible believing church. Now if you're in Sammon
Arm reach out come and visit us we're holding small we're a church plant we're holding small
services at the Sammon Arm Innovation Center boardroom currently but reach out to us and
you can reach us at the pottershousesa at iCloud.com or you can find us on Instagram
as the pottershouse SA or pottershouse Sammon Arm and then we'd be happy to have you come
and to Sunday service with us or maybe if you don't want to do that you can meet us
we have a Bible study every Wednesday night at the Tim Hortons on fourth but maybe you
don't live close to us because this is a podcast it goes out everywhere and that's great too
because we have over 3,500 churches globally and if you need a church reach out and I'll
give you you know get you contact in contact with a great Bible believing church. I want
to thank you for the time that you taken to listen to me I pray that these messages are
helping you I also would like to ask that you like share and subscribe because it really
helps us to get further you know reach with this podcast and the whole goal of this podcast
is to get these messages out so that hopefully the Spirit of God can work in people's lives
and more people can come to Christ because we do believe we're living in the end times
and we do believe that it is the great commission from Jesus to go out and spread the gospel
so thanks again for listening and I pray that you have a blessed day. Amen.