Help is on the way Sermon notes

Charlie Mitchell preaching

Help Is On The Way

In the face of life's most formidable challenges, Pastor Charlie Mitchell presents an empowering sermon: "Help Is On The Way." Delve into the timeless wisdom of Psalm 121 and the practical empowerment of 2 Peter 1:3.

Shift your focus from the trials at your feet and raise your eyes towards the mountains, only to find strength in a higher power. Discover the ancient Hebrew significance of relying on the Almighty and explore Scripture's affirmation of God as our unwavering Helper.

As we venture through this message, you'll uncover the key to accessing divine strength and the transformative power of the Holy Spirit in your life. Whether facing personal mountains or seeking spiritual growth, this sermon is a beacon of hope.

Unlock the profound truth that help isn't just on the way - it's already here.

God bless you! Let's journey together, always looking up and allowing the spirit of the Lord to lead our path.

Listen to the sermon here.

Self Control: The Missing Link to Living The Life You’ve Always Dreamed

“He who controls others may be powerful, but he who has mastered himself is mightier still.” ―Lao Tzu

Self-control is the kryptonite to all human life.

Who wants self-control when we can enjoy all of life’s pleasures?

Sadly, we have come to believe that self-control works against us. But if we truly understood it, we would see that its’ a tool that fights on our behalf.

Do you have a goal to lose some weight?

Do you desire to increase the richness of your relationships?

Do you dream of paying off your student loans and getting out of debt?

Do you want to see the world and live life on your terms?

The achievement of your goals is dependent mainly upon your self-control.

Self-control is the internal governor that helps us to manage our inner urges, cravings, and desires.

We are human, so we have many stimuli that affect us each day. But many of those urges would distract us or move us away from the goals and purposes we have set out for our lives.

Self-control is harnessing your will so that you stay the course you ultimately desire for yourself.

The enticing smell of food, the blinking lights of advertisements on the screen, the thirst for one more drink at the bar or one more trip to the kitchen are all inherently neutral things. But mindlessly giving in to these enticements can prove harmful long-term.

Self-control helps you to navigate, momentary urges so that you can live your life on purpose.

1. You Need Self-Control Because You Can’t Trust Yourself.

We are most often our own worst enemy.

While we all know it’s true, we still believe the hype about doing whatever feels good and following our heart. In other words, you are prone to do things you don’t intend to do.

You will plan to get up at 5 am, but you will desire to bask in the comfort of your warm bed. You will plan to work for an allotted block of time but gnawing at your soul will be the desire to binge on Netflix.

Your desires are always grinding against your goals.

Steven Pressfield would call it Resistance.

That’s because we have become accustomed to immediate satisfaction. We live in an era of instant gratification. We only wait when something is wrong. We have to retrain ourselves to live and think differently.

For long-term success, you must fight against instant gratification.

2. You Need Self-Control Because You’re In Love With Comfort

I’m sure there is scientific proof that good food has supernatural powers. Whether sick, healthy, happy or depressed, food can make anything better.

Comfort food isn’t just a baked casserole, but rather it is a cozy blanket for the soul. Much of your self-control goes out the window when your comfort is challenged.

There are few things in this world that are more seductive than comfort.

But too much comfort will rob you of any progress. You need self-control to fend off the sweet kisses and the warm embrace of comfort.

For long-term growth, you must fight against short-term comfort.

3. You Need Self-Control To Create Movement

A boulder is hardest to move when it is at rest. You are no different. Your natural desires will keep you locked in the same spot, with no movement.

You can have all the dreams in the world, but if we get complacent, it’s easy to settle into your current position with no forward progress.

That’s why so many of us have dreams to travel yet never buy a ticket anywhere. It takes too much energy to take the first step.

Your desires will deceive you into believing that if you stay the same everything will be ok.

But that’s not true. If there is no movement, there is no life. You need to become like a shark if you stop moving you die.

For progress, you need the self-control to fight inertia.

4. You Need Self-Control To Become A Giver

We all love the stories of those who started at the bottom, but no one wants to start at the bottom.

I’m sure I’m not the only one who has dreamed that Hollywood would make a movie based on my life. But, if I were writing the screenplay, the film would be all riches and no rags.

Your base desire is to get all you can for yourself. After all, it’s a dog eat dog world. We don’t all naturally wan to make room for anyone else.

Self-control forces you to take the attention off yourself and focus on someone else.

The most profound impact anyone can make is in the life of someone else. When you focus on people over personal gain, personal gain is inevitable.

For maximum impact, you need self-control to fight selfish ambition.

5. You Need Self-Control To Go From Good To Great.

Even your best intentions aren’t enough.

As the new year is approaching, you have written your goals, renewed your gym membership and cleaned your fridge. The problem is, it’s only a momentary change. After a few weeks and a couple of hiccups, we’ll scrap the whole plan.

These are short-term changes at best. When you make drastic positive changes like these, we get a mental high and feel a false sense of accomplishment.

Good desires must be maintained with long-term self-control.

For long-term improvement, you need self-control to fight short-term solutions.

Get A Grip On Self Control

When we hear the term self-control visions of grueling diets and boredom come to mind.

I think this is a sad fact.

Self-control is the key that unlocks all the dreams we hold dear.

What we fail to realize is when we give in to every whim and neglect self-control we are delaying the life we dream of living.

Self-control means governing our lives in order to to get the maximum joy and satisfaction out of life. Of course, that may mean short-term sacrifices, but what’s a short-term sacrifices in light of a life filled with purpose and meaning?

Self-control is the link we’ve been missing.

In The Rough is a publication seeking to engage who do life in the streets. We luh God and we luh the culture.

We’re 80’s and 90’s babies who are Christians seeking God and grinding to make a difference in our neighborhoods and cities. We’re not satisfied to live a sterilized, passive existence.

We want to live a life where our life and lips match up. We love the local church, and want to love our neighbors, and want to see that happen over and over again.

We serve the Creator of creativity, which means we want good movies, good music, and dope art. And we are always on the lookout to see what God is doing in the world so that we can be a part of it.

23 Powerful Quotes From Baltimore Rising

Baltimore Rising is a new and powerful documentary featured on HBO and Netflix, capturing the prominent voices woven together in the wake of the death of Freddie Gray.

In April of 2015, Baltimore City erupted after the untimely death of Freddie Gray in police custody. Since then Baltimore City has made significant steps to avoid another uprising and subvert the immediate spike in violence following the unrest.

There have been indelible marks left by the riots in Baltimore City. It still comes up in conversations from week to week with people that I meet. The consistent theme about the riot is that there is no constant theme or view on what took place in April of 2015.

That’s why I’m grateful for the directorial work of Sonja Sohn, the famed actress of The Wire. Baltimore Rising is an invitation to connect with the stories of activists and police, gang members and concerned citizens to learn what is going on in Baltimore City.

The riot didn’t tear up the community, the condition of the community caused the uprising that we had. — Councilman Carl Stokes

We’re not ignorant we just want peace — protester

The real story is, Freddie Gray was killed by police, and my city took to the streets and took the city back. — Devin Allen

Cop cars were being destroyed; businesses were being destroyed. It’s like a demon took over the city. — unknown

I can’t just sit on the sidelines. This is a part of me. From that Saturday on, I would leave work and protest with my cousin. — Kwame Rose

Protest truly is the voice of people that are unheard. — Makayla Gilliam-Price

We’re in a community where it’s underserved and over-policed. — Chief Melvin Russell

The Freddie Gray incident wasn’t the cause of the uprising. It was just probably the last straw that broke the camels back after decades of crying out. — Chief Melvin Russell

We all love our city. And we loved it before it was popular to say you loved it. — Community Advocate

7 or 8 generations of fatherless boys. And the only time we see [police] is when you’re taking our fathers from us. — Genard ‘Shadow’ Barr

Black males: When you have young black men like this, walking around the streets, aimlessly, they’re doing one of two things, they’re up to no good, or they’re selling drugs. — Det. Dawnyell Taylor

Life in Baltimore City: We are so angry. We are so upset, and we don’t have nothing to do so we agitate each other. — Community Advocate

We stopped policing — Chief Melvin Russell

We’ve got people dying in neighborhoods where they grew up, and you’ve got people that say absolutely nothing. — Det. Dawnyell Taylor

All we’re asking is for [police] be more considerate. They bleed just like us. They live just like us. — Gang member

Post-verdict: We do not want to be known as savages. We do not want to be known as animals. We wanna be known as a community. — Genard ‘Shadow’ Barr

To be honest I hope there’s not another riot, for real. — Devin Allen

I’m 17 smoking cigarettes. Why? Because I’m stressed every day that I’m gonna die. It’s either that Imma die by a stray bullet or a cop killer like Porter. — black male protester

People have to believe. But nobody in Baltimore believes. — Devin Allen

The unfettered access to guns in America is the curse of this country. — Commissioner Kevin Davis

The protest makes an impact in the community, but I feel like there are no concrete strategies attached to it. — Makayla Gilliam-Price

I’m encouraged about Baltimore. There’s been a great awakening with the DOJ coming in…It almost took this uprising to wake us up. — Chief Melvin Russell

I don’t think his death was a waste. I think Freddie was more so a martyr. — Richard Shipley Stepfather of Freddie Gray

Stop Thinking So Much and Start Taking Action

I love to think and strategize, but I’ve realized it’s making me ineffective.

Taking action and being thoughtful is can often be in tension with one another. Planners want to plan, and movers want to move.

But which is better?

UNEXECUTED PLANS ARE NO GOOD

Everyone has plans, projects, and goals they are seeking to get done. But many of those ideas get derailed before they are executed upon because they were stuck in the “thinking zone.”

The “thinking zone” is where plans and strategies are worked up, and one of two things usually happens:

First, we can devise a perfect approach of execution, so the idea stays in a state of theory and inaction.

Second, we feel so good about the plan it’s almost as if we’ve accomplished it without lifting a finger. So we end up not taking action on the “perfect strategy.”

“Talk depletes us. Talking and doing fight for the same resources. Research shows that while goal visualization is important, after a certain point, our mind begins to confuse it with actual progress.” –Ryan Holiday

You know when you’re a thinker when you have journals and notebooks filled with beautiful plans and elaborate ideas. Thoughts are scribbled on whiteboards, post-its, and scraps of paper.

Many of them will never see the light of day. They are the countless thoughts cataloged for all time, and most will never be acted upon.

Action divides the thinkers from the movers.

ACTIONS SPEAK LOUDER THAN IDEAS

The superior man acts before he speaks and afterward speaks according to his action. - Confucius

Get busy! Growing up we would say, “Walk about it! Don’t talk about it!”

Taking action over deliberating and planning takes heart. At some point, we have to move from plans to real work and that means making a commitment and taking risks.

To get out of the “thinking zone” you’ve got to get serious about taking real steps in real time. There are many unknown variables, and there will be setbacks, but it will be worth it in the end.

Stop tricking yourself into thinking there is a better plan or more to figure out. Work with what you know and pivot while you move ahead.

ACTION IS A WAY OF LIFE

Have a bias toward action — let’s see something happen now. You can break that big plan into small steps and take the first step right away. — Indira Gandhi

Stop over-planning and under-acting.

Planning and deliberating are critically important, but planning without action is futile.

Inaction leads to regret. Shoulda, coulda, woulda is not the story you want to be read about your life.

Action always trumps intention.

INACTION IS COSTLY

Planning to do something is great. Doing it is even better.

When you consistently think but don’t execute you are creating a lifestyle of inaction. You may have the most excellent ideas in the world, but plans without action are just scratch marks on sheets of paper.

Progress is dependent upon action.

Motivational videos, inspirational quotes, and filled journals are no good if you don’t make a move. What is one thing you can act on right now? What can you put into action based on this article or the last book you read?

Thinking about doing is more draining than doing.

When we don’t act we create burdens for ourselves. Unaccomplished goals and ideas are like having too many programs running on your computer. It slows you down.

You’re always left wondering how things would have turned out had you taken steps to accomplish your goals.

As long as you have a to-do list and you have ideas, things will be undone. But action creates movement so that we are continuously removing and adding new things to the list. Journals aren’t just for the capturing of thoughts, but they can also stand as a record of actions taken over time.

A sure-fire way to NOT get things done is to plan and never execute.

TAKE ACTION NOW

Momentum begets momentum, and the best way to start is to start. — Gil Penchina

What can I do right now to take even the smallest step towards achieving my most important goal on my to-do list?

The answer can be something simple that can be done in 10 minutes or less. The first practical step that comes to mind go and do it.

Once you get rolling, momentum will keep you moving. Action creates more action. Momentum will help you to move ahead more quickly.

Taking action takes the same energy as planning and thinking. But when you take action now you are moving towards goals and a life you always dreamed of, rather than just thinking about it.