God_speaks

As the author of Dale's song put it, "Sometimes finding God is just like trying to smell the color 9." Well, that sounds simple enough to explain in 30 minutes, now doesn't it?!

That's why I want to help ensure that we all stay together today as we look at how God speaks to us. The way I want to do that is to bring back a "Morganism" from the past. As we trek through this subject, along the way, I'm going to ask the question, "Are you with me?" To which you will respond all together, "I'm hip!"

Alright! Let's get into the fun. We're going to roll a clip now of the familiar "classic crew" of the Star Ship, Enterprise. As the scene opens, we see that the crew has perhaps happened upon God, Himself. Take a look. (Scene #1 from Star Trek V)

Oh, don't you and I wish hearing God's words were that simple! To see a face that we could relate to and to audibly hear words that we clearly understand!

Whether it's as simple as that clip showed, or as mysterious as some of us might think that it is; I believe we would all agree that in order to experience God, we first have to understand what He's saying.

For you history lovers here today (all 3 of you) let's run down how God has spoken to His people over time. In the Old Testament (Genesis up to Matthew), God spoke through angels, visions, dreams, symbolic actions, a gentle whisper, miraculous signs and more.

In the Gospels (first 4 books of New Testament: Matthew, Mark, Luke & John) God spoke through His Son, Jesus Christ.

So since we know Biblically that the we hear God speak through the Holy Spirit, it seems crystal clear that our understanding the Holy Spirit is at the foundation of experiencing God. So we're going to look at the Holy Spirit in the next few minutes.

Two Sundays ago, Mark Malin gave a message where people asked for forgiveness of their sins and accepted the gift of Grace through Christ and asked God to be the Leader of their lives.

As Malin put it, people "got it." One of the things we get is the Holy Spirit. At our salvation experience, the Holy Spirit takes up residence inside every Christ follower.

"Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God?"

And this Holy Spirit has the assignment of revealing God's truth to us. In the book of John the Holy Spirit is called the "Spirit of Truth." And in John 14:26 it says the Holy Spirit,"will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I (God) have said to you."

Ok. So, when we enter into a relationship with Christ, we receive IN us, the Holy Spirit, whose job it is to reveal Spiritual Truth to us, and to teach us all things. Are you with me?____.

Perhaps a good analogy is to imagine the Holy Spirit is more like a Holy Translator. Much like when American officials go oversees, a translator tells our president exactly what the Chinese ambassador said. In the same way, the Holy Spirit tells us exactly what God the Father has in store for us.

Then we experience God when we hear the Holy Spirit speak to us, and then we DO what It tells us to. When we don't follow the Holy Spirit's direction, there is a conflict.

And since the Holy Spirit is in us, this can make for an interesting situation. To illustrate (loosely) we're going to look at a clip where Steve Martin's character has been inhabited with the soul of a woman while at the same time he is still in his body. Take a look. (Scene from "All of Me.")

That's kind of what happens in us. You see, we receive the Holy Spirit in us, but we still have US in us. And often, much like our little film clip showed, there is a struggle inside us between our natural desires and the Holy Spirit.

"If the power of sin within me keeps sabotaging my best intentions, I obviously need help! I realize that I don't have what it takes. I can will it, but I can't do it. I decide to do good, but I don't really do it; I decide not to do bad, but then do it anywayI truly delight in God's commands, but it's pretty obvious that not all of me joins in that delight. Parts of me covertly rebel, and just when I least expect it." -Romans 14-24 The Message

OK, so is there anyone here, besides me that can resonate with that passage? Are you with me?_______. If we're really honest, in most of us there are times of internal struggle. What we know we should do and what we actually do, don't always line up. There's a conflict between our nature and the nature of the Holy Spirit.

In the Steve Martin clip, it's a toss up as to who is going to win the internal struggle. But for Christ followers, that's where things make a sharp and decisive turn.

Paul goes on to say, "You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you." -Romans 8:9 NIV

Ok. That passage says we are controlled by the Spirit of God. So why then, can we relate with the internal struggle shown in the film clip even though we have God's Holy Spirit IN us? (Good question.)

God gave us free will. We choose to follow our nature, or we choose to follow the voice of the Holy Spirit in us. Choosing the way of the Spirit in us, is a daily, sometimes minute by minute decision.

This whale represents our will, or our human nature. And unless we are continually putting God first in our lives; our will, our motives, desires, and ego can become seemingly as big as a whale.

And when that happens, we have what I call an unhealthy "eclipse of the soul." An unhealthy eclipse of the soul happens when we, ourselves, become so dominant in our thoughts, feelings and actions that we blot out the Son; (PPT) the Son of God, that is. When we seek first our agenda we eclipse, or overshadow the Holy Spirit in us.

To experience God, we need a God-honoring eclipse of the soul. And in that scenario, our will, feels more like this (little whale prop). We feel tiny in the shadow of God in our life.

So let me nudgingly ask you. In your life this past week, did you feel eclipsed by God, where you felt like you were in His shadow, like this little guy here?

Or did you feel like this little guy more resembles the size of God in you, eclipsed by your agenda? (big pause)

If you feel a little convicted right now, then that's a good thing. But don't get sideways about it. Instead, realize that we all(repeat) come into God's family with a self focused whale sized will.

But from the time we "get it" to the time we exit planet earth, we are trying, with the help of the Holy Spirit in us, to make our will small, like this little guy, and the will of the Father as big as a whale. (pause) (lose prop)

Oswald Chambers wrote, "We must learn to make Him our first considerationwhenever we put other things first, there is confusion."

So if we're trying to hear God speak, while we're focused first on our agenda, it's a good bet we'll end up confused, frustrated, or worse, we'll end up taking a word from us and attributing it to God. Now THAT, my friends, is bad juju!

-And we must submit our free will to following God's plan in our life. Because if we put our agenda first; instead of seeking God first, then we will surely miss the experience He has for us. (pause)You still with me?_______.//

Alright, it's the moment you've all been waiting for! The FOURTH installment of Morgan's who's who. Now, I've been getting some heat from the elders that these have been a little too difficult, so they've really admonished me to scale these back a little. So in light of that, I wonder if anyone knows who this is?( (Homer J. Simpson pic)

And Homer Simpson said, "God, if it's your will for me to eat this jelly donut, give me NO sign whatsoeverabsolutely NO signGULP!"

I wonder how many people here would say they've received a sign, or a word from God. Because I bet there are people here who have, and don't know it. Let me show you what I mean.

Two weeks ago Dave Dubois shared his story with us. And he said a sentence, that I have said and I've heard people say countless times throughout every year that I've been here. He said, "I felt like Mark Malin was following me around this week."

Now, real quick pole. If you have every had the clear and distinct feeling that a speaker on this stage was talking directly to you about a specific area of your life, or ever felt that you must have been followed around and stalked by an OakBrook speaker, please raise your hand high.

- The law of coincidence runs amok in this building and it's only a matter of time before Scully & Mulder show up. OR,

And let's understand this; that thing we all raised our hand about, feeling that we've been personally followed; THAT should not leave us wanting to experience God. Listen to me; That WAS an experience with God.(repeat)

As Henry Blackaby writes, (quote) " When Moses encountered the burning bush, it would have been ridiculous for Moses to say, 'This has been a wonderful experience with this burning bush. I sure hope this leads to an experience with God!'"(end quote) The burning bush WAS the experience with God!

When God reveals truth to us, by whatever means, that IS an experience with God. Because God is the only one who can cause us to experience His presence or hear His voice.//

If we look at how God worked throughout the Bible, we can't say exactly HOW God speaks to us, but we can draw three observations that have everything to do with us:

We just saw hundreds of hands go up to attest to having that experience. Now, in nearly ten years, I've never heard anyone exclaim or get totally freaked out during a service. Why is that? Because the feeling made sense to us. Why didn't God send down an Angel that only we could see that floated above the stage pointing to the speaker whispering, "Psssst! Hey, you, fourth row, two seats in; this next part is for you."?

The answer is: we would NOT understand that. THAT would probably freak us out! You see, movies and perhaps our own preconception, tell us that an encounter with God requires a special effects crew. But God doesn't necessarily put His signs on billboards as much as He does on the fine print of things in and around us. Are you with me?_____.

The second point is "We will know that it's God." Let me ask you this, if we didn't deep down think it was God, why would it make such an impact on us? The other answer is it just happens too darned often and like we saw, with too many people for it to be coincidence. Face it, we know it's a God-incidence.

The third point is "We know what He's saying." When we raised our hand a few minutes ago it was a testament to having heard something that we understood.

In other words, we don't say, "It felt like Mark Malin was following me around this week, but I have NO IDEA what all this Aramaic writing means that I mysteriously wrote down in my bulletin during the offertory!"

And here's the truth: Right now God is trying to make every single person here, aware of His presence and His will in our life. You may be sitting here having never accepted Christ into your life. But you have had the experience that words, songs or dramas on this stage have been spoken just for you.

You may not buy this whole Christianity shindig lock stock and barrel, but yet you still want to check it out. You may not be ready to sign up, but you still want to ask your friends questions about what they believe and why.

Guess, what? If that's you, God has your number and he's trying to make a connection. He's drawing you in by speaking to you through people and experiences that you can relate with, and that you understand.

There are no burning bushes, but something inside you is slowly catching fire. And someday you're going to accept Christ based on too many coincidences in your life; (little pause) that are really God-incidences.

And I'd like to give some a gentle nudge today; those who have come into a relationship with Christ. Every Christ follower can recall the circumstances that led up to their salvation. We can usually recall who the people were and what specific circumstances led us to a point where we knew God was speaking.

We KNEW God was telling us that He wanted a new life for us. When we came into a relationship with Christ, we knew it was God calling and we knew what He wanted us to do, and He was pulling us in a way we understood.

Janet Jackson asked, "What have you done for me lately." My gentle question is, "What's God trying to do around you lately?" Because He doesn't stop trying to speak to us after our salvation experience. He's still wants our attention.

Have we come into a Holy relationship and then stopped listening for what's next? Are we in the amusement park, but we're just not getting on the ride? Friends, God wants us to experience Him, and we all can, if we will be ready to listen and then move. //

Is anyone else curious how are Star Fleet crew is doing since we last left them? Let's take a look. (2nd clip from Star Trek V)

Well, the response to Dr. Bones McCoy, is that you don't ask the Almighty for His I.D. unless you know it's NOT the Almighty!

In that clip it seems "logical" that perhaps Capt. James T. Kirk had taken a class at Star Fleet Academy entitled "Theologies of the Galaxy." Because he seemed to know the characteristics of God; that God is everywhere and all powerful; hence his question, "What does God need with a starship?"

"Every part of Scripture is God-breathed and useful one way or another---showing us truth, exposing our rebellion, correcting our mistakes, and training us to live God's way. Through the Word we are put together and shaped up for the tasks God has for us." -(The Message)

Very clearly, this passage tells us that the Bible, even though written by men, was orchestrated, or "breathed" by the Holy Spirit.

But, if His Word isn't enough, check this "special bonus feature" that's built in to ensure we hear God speak through Scripture,

"It all sounds foolish to them (unbelievers) because only those who have the Spirit can understand what the Spirit means." (1 Cor. 2:14 NLT)

So the Bible on its own, is a phenomenal book packed full of wisdom and truth, BUT; When Christ-followers read it, the Holy Spirit IN us, works to give us God's understanding.

This is less mysterious than it sounds. For instance, have you ever read the Bible when suddenly you were struck by a fresh new meaning of a passage? It could be a passage you've read dozens of times before, but THIS time, you are struck with its truth in YOUR life to the point it seems to become imprinted on your soul.

I've had this experience just recently. I've read that we are to have no "false gods", that our God is a jealous God who wants all of our attention. But then I was studying through the Scripture in 2 Peter 2:19 that says, "a man is a slave to whatever has mastered him."

At that point I was convicted about an area in my life, they has taken up my thoughts, taken money, and ultimately my health. And the truth that I am a slave to whatever has mastered me became seared onto my soul. And that realization, is NOT (listen to me) is NOT an experience with the Bible. When we are imprinted with new truth of a Scripture, THAT, IS an experience with God.

So it's gut-check time. How often are we cracking the B-I-B-L-E? Because when we open the cover of that Book, we're opening a door that God comes through to speak to His people.

Experiences with God are waiting to be revealed in His word through the Holy Spirit. Every time we open His Book, is a potential experience with God. You still with me?_______.

"And the Holy Spirit helps us in our distress. For we don't even know what we should pray for, nor how we should pray. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words." (NLT)

"For his 6th birthday, my oldest son, Richard, was old enough to have a bicycle. I looked all around for a bicycle. I found a blue Schwinn. I bought it and hid it in the garage. Then I had a task---to convince Richard that he wanted a blue Schwinn bike. For the next little while, we began to work with Richard. Richard decided that what he really wanted for his birthday was a blue Schwinn bike. Do you know what Richard got? Well, the bike was already in the garage. I just had to convince him to ask for it. He asked for it, and he got it!" (End quote.)

So, when we pray, The Holy Spirit already knows what God has "in the garage" for us. Because it's already there. The Holy Spirit's task is to get us to want it.

In this light, we must focus on what the Spirit is trying to tell us in prayer. We must not just focus on a non-stop shopping list of prayer requests, but learn to LISTEN in prayer.

And when we DO pray for that blue Schwinn that God already has in the garage for us; when we receive it, our faith is increased and our prayers have been NOT an experience with prayer, but an experience with God. Are you still with me?_____.

Now, for time's sake, I'm not going to walk us through how God speaks through the church and circumstances. BUT, it's very important that when we feel like God is leading us to do something that we NOT just look at one indicator. But rather that we go to God in prayer, go to His Word, and seek the counsel of other Christ followers in the church.

When we start to see God showing up consistently in ALL these areas, THEN, it's time to act. Next week Mark's going to tell us about stepping out when these things line up.

The thing I find hardest about teaching how "God speaks" is that He speaks to all of us uniquely, so I can't really give you clear cut examples. But for example sake, I'd like to share some ways I feel God has led me. And PLEASE, hear no self-promotion in this. I am not the "Hearing God speak guru." I'm Just a guy who's trying.

Sometime last summer Mark Malin had emailed me a link to a website that he wanted me to check out. We were redesigning the look of OakBrook's website, and he had seen a page on a site that featured the staff of this company. He liked the look of it, so he sent me the link.

So I was just flipping through this site and I'm pretty much just skimming through the bios of these people. As I flip through one guy's bio I see one little sentence like "And I give big thanks to the people at the Weighdown Workshop."

Now for whatever reason, that caught my eye. And I go back out to the net and search for Weighdown Workshop. And I begin to read through their vision of what Biblical weightloss looks like.

Let me try to condense this for you. I basically can't get it out of my head that there's something in their concept that's for real. And I tried to get into classes of it offered at other churches in town and in about 3 attempts I'm unsuccessful because the classes conflict with my schedule.

At this same time, my wife, Sandra, is getting impatient and she's saying, "Look, let's just go over here to "brand x" and do this other deal in town that you can fit into your schedule." And honestly, I can tell you, that this ONE time, I actually wasn't just being stubborn. I really felt strongly in the deepest part of me that this thing was what I was supposed to do.

And most of you know, because I've talked about it before, that God has used this program to change my life, not just physically, but spiritually in ways I didn't expect.

One little line on a web-page that was "coincidentally" emailed to me, caught the attention of my soul. And now there's about thirty people here that are going through that same experience on Monday nights.

And now I am seeing people begin to see God in new ways in old areas of their lives that they thought may never change, could never change. I've heard tearful prayers shared by people I barely know, that I'm getting to know better. I am seeing God at work in my heart and the hearts of 29 other people.

I burning bush hasn't caused me to lead a nation out of Israel. But one sentence on a web-page has caused me to experience God in new ways and to help some fellow strugglers do the same. I'm learning not to look for God in cinema-sized special effects, but simple signs in the mundane of my day.//

Let's go back to the example in the beginning of feeling like a speaker was talking just to you. In those deals, I believe what's communicated is in most cases VERY clear. In this experiences, God strikes a chord in us and the Holy Spirit is trying to:

Here is my challenge, that I believe will help everyone here experience God. The next time you're siting here, and you feel like a speaker says something directly to you.

Then please don't let it be just an eerie realization. Take it past that. Take it past a conversation with your spouse or friend later that day. Take a step of faith and do something about the thing you know God is rattling your cage about.

If you don't KNOW what to do about it; come to a staff member and say, "Hey, that thing you talked about; I know I need to do something about this deal. Can we talk about it?"

To let those moments slip by without reacting to the Holy Spirit's nudging is to miss the bigger experiences with God. It is to close the door on a Holy wake-up call.

Friends every time I've experienced God has been when I have moved my derriere in the direction I felt He was leading. My times of Spiritual stagnation have been directly proportional to my lack of movement toward God.

I appreciate your hip-ness today and I truly appreciate your patience & attentiveness as we slugged through this difficult topic.

I would really encourage you to pick up this book, Windows of the Soul. The author does an anointed job of giving great examples of how we experience God in our lives.