We are starting the 40 Days of Purpose in the coming weeks, and this sermon was "Setting the
Table for a God Visit". Enjoy
Next
Sunday we will embark on a journey. Next Sunday we will kick off our Spiritual
Growth Campaign called 40 Days of Purpose.
Next
Sunday night, we will come together to share a meal, and then we will hear a
message that will set the groundwork for what we will be learning/studying and doing
for the next 40 days or so.
I
know some of you have already been involved in this campaign. I know that
others of you have already read the book; but don’t let these things stop you
from being a part of this campaign. God’s not finished with you just yet.
The
major question that we are going to seek to answer throughout this campaign has
been called: “life’s
most important question”. (Rick Warren)
The
question that we will ask and answer is: “What on earth am I here for?” How many have
ever asked themselves that question, at least once in their life?
I
believe with all my heart that God has the power to change—or transform—your
life, through this campaign. I truly
hope that each of you will prayerfully consider being a part of this exciting
40 day spiritual journey.
While
more will be said about this campaign in the weeks to come, I want
to, today, “Set the Table for a God visit”
PRAY
ILLUSTRATION- A couple of years ago, I had
settled into my lazy-boy chair after church for my “Wesleyan hour”, and before
I drifted off to sleep, I turned on the TV and found the Hour of Power.
Those
of you who have seen the show, know that it’s customary for a special guest to
appear on the show to share his or her testimony.
That
day’s guest was Evil Kenevil, a former motorcycle stunt man.
Evil
Kenevil went on to describe the events of his life; and shared some of the
accolades that were presented to him.
The
purpose of his visit to the Hour of Power that day was to ask Sr. Schuller to
baptize him.
It seemed that
Evil Kenevil had come to faith in Jesus and he wanted to be baptized.
After
the Baptism was over, Jr. Schuller stood to speak, he said that God had been
speaking to his heart during; and he felt impressed to open up the alter and
invite people to come forward and accept Jesus and be baptized.
Hundreds
of people came forward that day to signify their devotion to Jesus Christ.
I sat in my
chair that day and wept. I rejoiced over the people who came forward to receive
Jesus.
I
need to tell you friends that as I reflected back on that moment this week, I
began praying for a movement similar to that one to happen to us, here, on the
Ridge.
In
fact, since becoming your Pastor last year, I have been asking for a work of
God to happen here in our day.
I want to see
God move in my life. I want to see God move in your life. I want to see God at
work in all of us.
The
Bible reminds us that we are to: “Seek the LORD while he may be found; call on him while he is
near.
7 Let the wicked forsake his way and
the evil man his thoughts. Let him turn to the LORD, and he will have mercy on
him, and to our God, for he will freely pardon.” (Is. 55:6-7, NIV)
God
is asking us to turn to Him; to seek Him while He is near. He is inviting us,
this very day, to turn to Him:
“…if my people, who
are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and
turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive
their sin and will heal their land.” (2 Chr. 7:14, NIV)
This
very promise from God Himself reminds us that if we turn to God, He will turn
to and touch us.
This
is, I believe, what we need more than anything elseà we need a touch from
the Master.
This
was possible in Jesus’ day and this is possible this day. God wants to reach
out and touch His people.
In
Matthew 8, a man with leprosy came and knelt before Jesus and said: "Lord, if you
are willing, you can make me clean." (Matthew
8:2b, NIV)
Do
you know what Jesus did? He didn’t turn this man away. He didn’t pretend this
man wasn’t there. He didn’t even pretend He was too busy to talk to this man.
The Bible says: “Jesus reached out
his hand and touched the man. “I am willing," he said. "Be
clean!" Immediately he was cured of his leprosy.” (Matthew 8:3,
NIV)
Jesus was
willing to touch this man, and He is willing to touch each of us today. He
wants to transform us into “… new persons…” (2
Cor. 5:17, NLT2)
Jesus wants to
touch your life and transform you into a new being. He wants to remove: “…your stony,
stubborn heart and give you a tender, responsive heart.” (Ezk. 36:26b, NLT2)
I believe that
this is what God wants to do in my life and this is what God wants to do in
your life. I believe that our best days are still ahead of us.
God tells us in
Isaiah: “For I
am about to do something new. See, I have already begun! Do you not see it? I
will make a pathway through the wilderness.
I will create rivers in the dry wasteland.” (Is. 43:19, NLT2)
I will create rivers in the dry wasteland.” (Is. 43:19, NLT2)
ILLUSTRATION-Not too many people thought
that the Millville Wesleyan Church and the Maple Ridge Wesleyan Church would be
worshipping the same God, together, under one roof… but here we are!
God
is doing something new! He’s work is just beginning; we are standing on the
threshold of this new thing… I believe that He has amazing things in store for
each one of us at this time in our history…
But
we must be ready; we must “Seek the LORD while he may be found…” (Is. 55:6,
NIV) We’ve got to call out to Him; we must be open to His touch.
ILLUSTRATION- I have this strange belief
that God can take anyone and transform them into something incredible.
I
hold this belief because I see it played out over and again in the pages of Scripture:
·
Moses was a murderer; but God used Him;
·
David was the runt of the litter; but God used Him;
·
Esther was a pretty young thing; but God used her;
·
Peter turned his back on Jesus three times, but God still
used Him;
And
·
Saul helped the very people he tried to kill come to
faith in Jesus Christ.
Over
and again I read of people—everyday, ordinary people, being used by God for
extraordinary things.
I
went from what I was, to what I am now, because I received a touch from the
Master.
Many of you are
not the same people you once were, because you received a touch from Jesus….
All of that is
wonderful, BUT I WANT MORE!!!!!!
“I want to know
Christ and experience the mighty power that raised him from the dead….” (Philippians 3:10a, NLT2)
I
want “to
Know Christ and to make Him known” I want every square inch of my
life to be filled with the Spirit of God.
This
is what I am praying for you, too.
I
have been asking God to do something so great in our midst that it can only be
explained as a “God thing”
I
am seeking God’s direction for this church and I am asking for God’s Spirit to
move in on us like never before.
I am praying the
words of Matthew 6:10b: “…your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” (NIV)
This
verse, according to John Ortberg can be translated: “Make up there come down here”
I
am anticipating God to visit us during our 40 Days of Purpose campaign.
But
can one Spiritual Growth Campaign do all that I am hoping and praying for? In a
word…NO!
One,
two, or even 45 Spiritual Growth Campaigns cannot make God do anything, because
God cannot be put in a box.
Programs
don’t change people. People can’t change people. Only Jesus Christ has the
power to change people.
Jesus
said: “Come,
follow me…and I will…” (Matthew
4:19a, NIV)
Paul,
in Romans 12:2 wrote: “…let God transform you into a new person by changing the
way you think….” (NLT2)
If
we want to know what God has in store for us, we must come to Him and lay our
lives down at His feet.
So,
this is what I am asking you to do today—I am asking you to join me in
asking God to change us, to help us
become the people that He wants us to become.
To
help us understand that we are here to: worship the King; we are here to serve
the King; we are here to be a part of the King’s family; we are here to become
like our King; and we are here to let others know about our King.
Contrary
to popular belief, you are not an accident. We are here for a purpose. God has
us here, in this church “… for such a time as this.” (Esther 4:14b, NIV)
The
Bible says: “From
one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth;
and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should
live.
27 God did this so
that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he
is not far from each one of us.
28 'For in him we
live and move and have our being.'” (Acts 17:26-28a, NIV)
Church: God has
a purpose for us! He wants to work in our life; He wants to use the 40 days of
purpose campaign to remind all of us that He’s not finished with us yet!
I’m praying that
you will decide to take part in this campaign. If you let Him,
God has the power to change your
life. He will do His part, but you must get involved and do your part.
There is a
prayer recorded for us in the Old Testament Book of Habakkuk.
It’s found in chapter 3:2:
“Lord,
I have heard the news about you; I am amazed at what you have done. Lord, do great things once again in our
time; make those things happen again in our own days. Even when you are angry,
remember to be kind.” (NCV)
This is my
prayer for our church. I am asking God to do the kinds of things that He did in
the past and do them again in our day. I am asking that God would move in on us
and take us to the next level.
I don’t know
what that will look like, but I know one thing for sure: satan will have none
of it.
Satan does not
want you to be a part of this campaign. He will do what he can to make you
avoid being a part of, in one way or another, this campaign.
He will fill you
with doubt, telling you that you can’t lead a small group, telling you there’s
no point in reading the book; satan doesn’t want you to move forward in faith,
he wants you to be stuck in reverse.
What we must do to
avoid this is outlined for us in James 4: “Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he
will flee from you.
8 Come near to God
and he will come near to you.” (James 4:7-8, NIV)
We must stand at
the foot of the cross. And it’s only by coming to and standing at the Cross
that we will find what we truly need: Jesus Himself.
As you can see,
I have set the table, this morning, for a God visit. I am anticipating a fresh
visit from Him.
I, like
Habakkuk, am “amazed
at what you have done.” (Hab. 3:2a, NCV)
I am amazed that
a sinless God would chose to send His sinless Son into this sinful world to die
the death that we were supposed to die.
I am amazed at
how on the third day; He rose again, breaking the power of sin and death.
I am amazed that
God would dare to use a sinner to stand before you and proclaim His great
power.
I am amazed at
what God has done; but I really get excited when I begin to imagine what God is
going to do!!!
The Bible says: “Now to him who is
able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power
that is at work within us…” (Eph.
3:20, NIV)
I believe that God’s
not done yet! There are better days ahead. And I am asking God for those days
to begin right now! I am asking God to
work in, on, or
in spite of us.
But
before we go on, we must remember what was done.
The
Bible says: “On
the night when he was betrayed, the Lord Jesus took some bread 24
and gave thanks to God for it. Then he broke it in pieces and said, “This is my
body, which is given for you. Do this to remember me.”
25 In the same way, he took the cup of wine after supper,
saying, “This cup is the new covenant between God and his people—an agreement
confirmed with my blood. Do this to remember me as often as you drink it.” (1
Cor. 11:23b-25, NLT2)
Before we can go
on, we must remember that the Lord Jesus had His body broken.
We must remember
that the Lord Jesus shed His blood for us. We must remember and celebrate that
Jesus was and is the ultimate sacrifice and He has the power to set us free.
So we’re going
to thank Him for what He has done and at the same time we are going to pray and
ask that He will do amazing things, again, in our time.
As we approach
the Lord’s Table today, I must remind you of the warring given to us in the
Scriptures:
“…anyone who eats
this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord unworthily is
guilty of sinning against the body
and blood of the Lord.
28 That is why you should examine yourself before eating the
bread and drinking the cup.
29 For if you eat the bread or drink the cup without honoring
the body of Christ, you are eating and drinking God’s judgment upon
yourself.” (1 Cor. 11:27-29, NLT2)
Let’s pause and
make sure that our hearts are right with God and with each other, all the while
anticipating a touch from the Master.
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