Welcome and Prayer: Jim Calhoun
Come Lord, join us here today
This world is hard some days
And it takes tenderness to face it.
So we ask for tenderness this morning
For Gentleness
Patience
Kindness
And the affection
We will need
To meet the moments
Of our lives
And the lives of
Others
For surely
There will be
Days to come
That will test us fully
Break us
Drive us to our knees
And cry
So tenderness Lord
Grant us tenderness
Turning away from our
Pride and anger
Fears and resentments
Cynicism and despair
To love others
To even love ourselves
Like you love us
Just as you love us now
This day
This moment
Amen
Morning Talk: chuck smith, jr.
Isaiah 30:19-21
Intro: The Book of Isaiah begins with God’s frustration over Israel; for instance:
“Children have I reared and brought up,
but they have rebelled against me . . . .
Ah, sinful nation,
a people laden with iniquity,
offspring of evil doers,
children who deal corruptly!
They have forsaken the LORD,
they have despised the Holy One of Israel,
they are utterly estranged” (Isa. 1:2-4)
Then in chapter 6, Isaiah tells the story of his call from God to be a prophet
– at first, he continues in the same stream as the opening
• but a little further on, he is given messages of hope
◦ God always provides a way back
◦ his radiant love always breaks through the dark clouds
• by chapter 30, his promises to Israel are fantastic
“For a people shall dwell in Zion, in Jerusalem; you shall weep no more. He will surely be gracious to you at the sound of your cry. As soon as he hears it, he answers you. And though the Lord give you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, yet your Teacher will not hide himself anymore, but your eyes shall see your Teacher. And your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, ‘This is the way, walk in it,’ when you turn to the right or when you turn to the left.”
– God promises his people he will always be speaking to them
• they will always hear him nearby, and he will guide them
• as long as they were willing to listen to him, and accept his direction,
◦ he was willing to constantly communicate with them
A couple weeks ago I thought we had spent enough time “Learning to Listen”
– but the more I have focused on listening for God to speak to me,
• the more discoveries I make in how he speaks to me
◦ but it’s more than that – it also has to do with how I pay attention
• at times, he whispers so quietly that I’m not sure he’s spoken
◦ so more than once, I first ignored what I thought I heard
◦ but later, even if I had not paid close attention, his word comes back – & it’s been important
– SO IMPORTANT that we’ll be developing these skills for the rest of our lives
• the more I accept that possibility, the more it excites me
Some of the ways God gets his message to us
You don’t need to write any of this down or remember it;
– just notice if something resonates with you
If you know me, you probably anticipated that I would put the Scriptures at the top of the list
– I wish this was always straight forward – but it isn’t
• if you’ve been a Christian for awhile,
◦ you’ve memorized Bible verses you never intended to remember
◦ and the interpretation given for those verses is probably wrong
• many believers think they have biblical guarantees about:
◦ the perfect marriage; raising perfect children; becoming financially “blessed”
◦ that is not the way to read and use the Bible
– the Bible is not a road map, it’s not a handbook for life,
• and it’s not a collection of random sayings you can use whenever you need one
• knowing the Bible for what it is, makes a difference in hearing how God speaks through it
If we’re hoping to hear God speak to us personally through the Scriptures,
– then I believe it’s important to be still for a moment before reading
• to have the state of mind that is ready to listen and hear well,
◦ I quiet my thoughts and bring my awareness to God present w/me in the here and now
– a personal story: Depression has never completely left me alone
• it’s usually the worst in the morning – not every morning, but frequently
◦ a couple weeks ago, after reading in Jeremiah, I wrote:
ME: “Poor sleep last night; discomfort and unrest. I did not want to read this morning. Cold heart, distant from God. I’ve been living in a collapsed future, not being able to imagine life after the end of this year. . . . Then God spoke to me through the prophet Jeremiah. God knows me, forgives me, accepts me, and has plans for me. I read it. I heard it. I felt it.
“For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you, declares the LORD, and I will restore your fortunes . . . .” (Jer. 29:11-14)
As Jeremiah says a couple of chapters later,
‘Then I knew that it was the word of the LORD.’”
God speaks through the natural world
– it helps when we go into nature with the specific intention to listen
• it can happen during an activity–jogging, rock-climbing, surfing–,
◦ but it’s not the same as when our primary purpose for being there is to connect and listen
God speaks through other people
– not necessarily when someone is trying to speak on God’s behalf
• some people think they’re doing us a favor by being “preachy” or lecturing us
• but what I find is that when I’m having a casual conversation with a friend,
◦ something is said, and I hear God’s voice through it
◦ it wasn’t anything we tried to make happen, but there it was
– it may be an insight, a reminder, an answer to a question,
• or simply a short burst of inspiration
God speaks through the testimonies of other people
– this is especially true if I can relate to their story
• they describe a hardship like mine, and explain how God assisted them
– I hear this, and then realize, “I can trust God to do something like this for me”
God speaks through books
– I’m not going to suggest any, because I know he’s spoken through every genre
(novel, poetry, philosophy, neural anatomy!
• I knew a lovely Christian woman, and God consistently spoke to her through movies
• I have to admit, I’ve received a couple of uncanny messages through movies
◦ one in particular when God revealed to me,
that I was right where he wanted me, doing what he wanted me to be doing
Conclusion: There’s no place, time, or activity where God cannot reach us
Sometimes he wakes us up or grabs our attention so we don’t miss it
– but I feel it is important – and I want to say “necessary” for us to develop our listening skills
• and to respond as soon as it’s clear that he has spoken
• I think that’s the best way to guarantee he will continue to speak,
◦ and our ability to hear him will improve