Church of the Living God Galveston - 11AM Sunday Sermon, March 10, 2024.
Explore this week's collection of sermon notes, memes, and thought-provoking questions, perfect for sparking discussions with friends, family, and neighbors. Feel inspired? Share these insights on social media, or pass them along through text or email.
YOU ARE LOVED by God the Father, Jesus Christ His son, and the Holy Spirit. You are loved by the Church of the Living God leadership team, and you are loved by your fellow brothers and sisters in Christ.
Reverence, rest, & relationship are needed to hear the voice of God in your life.
To hear and discern the Voice of God, you need three things: REVERENCE for Him (the “fear of the Lord”), to be in a place of REST (so there is space for Him), and a RELATIONSHIP with Him (so you know it is Him speaking to you).
How can you do the “3R’s”: reverence, rest, & relationship to hear from God this week?
Build a relationship with God: spend time with Him, learn His character, then you can hear His voice.
As Christians, there are times when we may wonder, “Is God speaking to me about this subject?”, or perhaps even, “I don’t think I’ve ever heard the voice of God.” Well, GREAT NEWS, God is ALWAYS speaking. It’s up to us to hear and discern and then translate what he is saying. For example, if you lost all your contact information on your phone, you could discern who was who by the character of the texts. In a similar way, we can discern His voice in the events in our lives by the character of the words in them. Our relationship with Him allows us to know his character, and that allows us to hear His voice.
Do you have a relationship with God in which you can discern His character to hear Him speak in your life? If not, are you SPENDING TIME WITH HIM?
Clean out your spiritual earwax.
In the beginning of the book of Samuel, we see that he hears the voice of the Lord for the first time, (1 Sam 3:1-10). He did not yet know the voice of the Lord, because he hadn’t heard Him before. You need to have a reverence for God to hear from Him. In that time, visions were rare because the religious leaders were living in rebellion under God, by taking the wrong portion for themselves (essentially stealing), and were living in sexual immorality. These sins against God created a sort of “spiritual earwax” that made them unable to hear from Him. Any time you approach God and there is no reverence, no fear of the Lord, you will not hear from Him. May we do as Samuel did, and say: “Speak Lord, your servant is listening”.
Do you have irreverent “spiritual earwax” built up in your life?
Do you want the things of this world...or the things of God?
Humility and hunger are necessary components to hearing the voice of God. If there is a hunger, God will show up with the direction of where for you to go. Communing with God through prayer gives the you wisdom to reject sin, this is why Jesus said in the garden of Gethsamane to “pray so that you won’t be tempted”. If you just decide to really follow after God, you won’t want to sin, because you will hunger for the things of Him instead. Seek first the Kingdom of God, and His righteousness.
Are you hungering after the things of God, or after the things of the world?
Sin: takes you too far, for too long, for too much.
“Sin will take you further than you want to go, will keep you longer than you want to stay, and will cost you more than you want to pay.”
-Pastor Robert Dowdy Sr. (Grandpa)
Where in your life have you gone too far, played too long, or paid too much?
No worrying + Prayers & Requests x THANKSGIVING = God's Peace/True Rest
Rest is a necessary ingredient for hearing the voice of God. God is speaking to us all of the time, but we disregard it because we are in a place of busyness. If you want to be at the feet of Jesus, you have to cast off busyness. Anxiousness and worry can be the driving forces of busyness, so how do we fight them? Phillippians 4:6-7 says, “Never worry about anything. But in every situation let God know what you need in prayers and requests while giving thanks. Then God’s peace, which goes beyond anything we can imagine, will guard your thoughts and emotions through Christ Jesus.” So, first it says to never worry about anything, and in every situation to pray and petition God with thanksgiving, and then GOD’S PEACE will guard our hearts and emotions. This is the formula to combat the busyness in life; in God’s peace, we can truly rest.
How can you apply Philippians 4:6-7 to your life to rest in Him?
Speak, Lord, I am listening.
God speaks to his children in many ways, some are: through your thoughts, through other people, in sermons and teachings, and (rarely) audibly. You may think that you don’t hear from God because you haven’t heard him audibly, but you may not realize when God is speaking, because you haven’t learned how to discern your own thoughts. You need to use the Bible, the Word of God, to weed out the thoughts you are getting. Time spent in the Word brings clarity to your life. God also wants to use people close to you, like a spouse or best friend, especially for things you may not want to hear. There is wisdom in wise counsel, and God speaks through spiritual authority (such as your pastor) by sermons or teachings. He speaks to us all the time: it’s the glory of God to conceal a matter, and the glory of kings to seek it out. We are to seek Him to hear His voice, since He desires RELATIONSHIP with His children.
When is the last time that you know you heard from God? What did you do for that to happen? What can you do to hear from Him again?
Disclaimer: Sermon notes, memes, and ideas presented are curated, designed and repackaged by Jennifer Parke, and while the ideas, message, and notes resonate with the intent and meaning of the sermon, they may not fully reflect the speaker's underlying beliefs. Questions or Comments, email: info@colg.org
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