August 23 2015 Renewing Our Passion For God And His Church

RENEWING OUR PASSION FOR GOD AND HIS CHURCH

THE PLACE OF OBEDIENCE IN RENEWAL
I Kings 18

Introduction: Choice, not chance, determines our destiny.

Life’s Living Options:

1. Every person has a choice to make.

2. Every person has the ability to make these choices.

3. The choice we make always has consequences.

4. While we’re choosing we live in one of the choices.

Sermon goals help us to choose to live a life of continued obedience to God.

Observations About Obedience:

1. We need to be sensitive to the voice of God.
Vs. 1 – After a long time, in the third year, the Word of the Lord came to Elijah.

How to be Sensitive to the Voice of God:

1. We must be serving.
2. We have to be in the right place.
3. Samuel listened to a mature Christian.

2. Obey God even when the path is difficult.
Vs. 1-19 

3. Obedience is difficult if we haven’s seen God move in the lives of people.
Vs. 20-29
Vs. 21 – Elijah said, if the Lord is God, follow Him, but if Baal is God follow Him.

Three Classes of People at Mt. Carmel:

1. A group that was devoted to God.
2. A group devoted to a false god.
3. A group that was undecided.

4. God honors an obedient heart.
Vs 30-38

The preparation of an obedient heart.
Vs. 30 – He repaired the altar of the Lord which was in Ruins.

The predicament of an obedient heart.
Vs. 32-35

The prayer of an obedient heart.
Vs. 36-38

5. Obedience is easy when we see God move.
Vs. 39 – When all the people saw this, they fell prostrate and cried, the Lord He is God!  The Lord He is God!

February 8, 2015 - How God Turns Nobodies Into Somebodies (Goehner)

How God Turns Nobodies Into Somebodies

Hebrews 11:32 and Judges 6 & 7

Judges 6:11 – The angel of the Lord came and sat down under the oak in Ophrah that belonged to Joash where his son Gideon was threshing wheat in a wine press to keep it from the Midianites.

Verse 12 – The Lord is with you, mighty warrior.

Four Steps To Becoming Somebody Usable:

Step One: Affirmation.

Verse 12 – You are a mighty warrior.

Verse 13 – But sir, if the Lord is with us, why has all this happened to us? Where are all His wonders that our fathers told us about when they said, did not the Lord bring us up out of Egypt? But now the Lord has abandoned us and put His hand into the hand of Midian.

Verse 15 – But Lord, Gideon asked, how can I save Israel? My clan is the weakest in Mannasseh, and I am the least in my family.

-The wrong village.
-The wrong family.
-The wrong guy.

Verse 14 – Go in the strength you have and save Israel out of Midian’s hand. Am I not sending you?

Verse 16 – I will be with you, and you will strike down the Midianites as if they were but one man.

-I am sending you.
-I’m going to be with you.
-You can’t fail.

Step Two: Revelation.

Verse 22-24 – When Gideon realized that it was the angel of the Lord, he exclaimed, Ah, Sovereign Lord! I have seen the angel of the Lord face to face. But the Lord said to him, peace! Do not be afraid. You are not going to die. So Gideon built an altar there, and he called the altar, the Lord is Peace.

Altar: A personal commitment to God.

Lesson: Before you are ready to fight external battles, you must have internal peace.

Step Three: Confrontation.

Three Tests:

-God may test you spiritually.

Verse 25-27 – Tear down your fathers’ altar to Baal, so Gideon took ten of his servants and did as the Lord told him.

Exodus 20:3 – Thou shalt have no other gods before Me.

-God may test you emotionally.

Lesson: Service for the Lord always begins at home.

-God may test you physically.

Judges 6:30 – The men of the town demanded of Joash, bring out your son. He must die, because he has broken down Baal’s altar.

Verse 31 – But Joash replied to the hostile crowd, are you going to plead Baal’s cause? If Baal really is a god, he can defend himself.

Step Four: Transformation

Verse 34 – Then the Spirit of the Lord came upon Gideon.

Lesson: Power always comes after testing.

Luke 4:1 – Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, was led by the Spirit into the desert.

Verse 14 – Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit.