discernment

This is third of four sermons on discerning God’s true direction for our lives, this week we look at MOTIVATION! God’s will for our lives is healthy, sensible, less anxious,and God want us to follow Him.

Our First sermon focused on prayer, Everything begins and ends with prayer, The exercise was to pray “ceaselessly” a spirit of prayer and not an act of prayer. The second dealt with passion for this discernment- You have to want it. This week is motivation: What plugs you into the amazing power of God. Its as present as a power line but you must connect! wherever prayer driven passion is, there will your motivation be. Discernment requires us to know it, grow it, act upon it and use it to grow closer to God.

powerline 1

My grandfather helped found an electrical Coop before WWII. This would revolutionize his rural area but at first had little impact. Why? There were few things to plug in and little understanding what this newfangled power did. One man hooked it up, plugged in a light bulb and enjoyed the ability to read at night. Everything was fine until he got his first bill-about a dollar, and he threw a fit. If the coop would not negotiate a deal he threatened to take out the bulb and let the power spill onto the floor! Not much understanding.

What do we Know, You have to plug in, it costs, useful, destructive, scary, You need to understand it to be able to use it. Electrons get excited at the source, are generated onto the transmission lines, do their work and return to the source. Unplugging anything along the way that break the flow, stops the power. The power is still there but the “Short-Circuit” stops the work of power. So it is with the quest for God’s plan for our lives. You have to plug in and pay the price! When you plug in you will want more and this is this source of growth-moving from faith to faith! FAITH MOTIVATES FAITH in a self feeding circle! Check out the text!

Romans 1:1-17New International Version (NIV)

Paul is Asking Two Questions: What Motivates you and Us, second, What Should Motivate you and us. . The second question is the best question.

The text has three motivators for a follower of Jesus to discern God’s mission for our lives instead of a random decision or mere chance. First, the end zone, goal, ground, plan and reward with responsibility is FAITH. We move from faith to faith to live by faith. Second, faith in God is for us personally but lived out in community “Mutually Encouraged by each other’s faith”. We motivate and are motivated by our fellow travelers! Third and finally, The gift of “Sent-ness, or apostleship.” This isn’t geography but a state of the heart. We are sent where we live to be plugged in, excited, to give witness to the power given to us to work and return through praise to God who changes our lives and the lives of others.

When we don’t have faith, work anyway. John Wesley, founder of the Methodist movement had doubts. He received this advice from pastor Peter Muhller, “Preach faith until you have it and all you will be able to preach is faith. Keep at it through prayer, worship, service and keep your eyes on Christ

My motivators are these three things: I love Jesus Christ, why, this is the source of love I have for others. I Love his church, This is his chosen powerline to transmit the very salvation of the world. NOT THE SIGN OUT FRONT! But the Jesus within the Church. and finally, I Love You, A pastor’s love is a funny thing these motivate me, drive me out of bed and keep me going. Few know the lengths I would go to to introduce you to Jesus, or a better way to deepen your walk with him.

So now we ask the question, SO WHAT? Ask these three and write down three things and pray for them to be your source of spirit led motivation! Give them to God and find a new energy for spiritual growth.

Paul said, I am not ashamed of the Gospel! Me neither, how about you?

These briefs are a follow up to our Sunday worship. I pray that you enjoy them but they are not a substitute for being in church. Attend your church or come see us at CMUMC. Do you have questions about how to become a Christian? contact me at revavanhooser@gmail.com or click on the icon below to contact our office.

So, how do you pray for a Friday Night Football Worship Experience? In general, here are three basic ways to pray for a football game. The coaches have their way, the players on the field have their way and the alumni in the stands have their way. All three want to God to know it is His will for us to win. The educators pray for good sportsmanship and their players to be better people for the win, the players pray to be stronger athletes more popular for the win, and the alumni pray to live bygone days and are more open to the visitors leaving blood on the field

How do we pray for God’s will in our lives? Where do we start. Deep down we want that win. OUR win. Deep down we want to become closer to His Son Jesus for the experience and keep us on the high moral road as we do it. However, if some force were to viciously smite the opposition that’s ok, as long as we can claim it as God’s will and not any doing of our own hands. That is not discernment. What is the real deal? How can we discern what God wants without feeling like a loser.

Discernment is seeing what God Wants, Mission is doing what God wants

The reading today, from First Thessalonians chapter 5, Gives some clear direction for us in how to find God’s will to perform our mission!

At the cross we have a clue,Jesus asked for deliverance but cried out, “Not my will but thine be done” It is a personal skill, lived out in the Church and can be learned

1. God’s will is found by those who live urgently.

The game is uncertain certain until the clock runs out. Faith is being uncertain and trusting God anyway. We must choose darkness or light, ignorance or wisdom, fear or certainty. Take action now.

2. God’s WIll is found by the awakened and the intentional. Jesus died for you and me and we his church, he is the light to our cloudy path. Grab hold of His hand

Study is Armor for the head, faith is armor for the heart. Our eternity is protected by the covenant of Salvation

3. God’s will is found in community

We are not a loose collection of individuals, we are a team, we all win or none of us win. Respect the co laborer, wake up the lazy, encourage the bashful and help the weak. This letter was written to the Church.

4.God’s will is found in a life of integrity

We do not always agree what is truth.
Live the truth on the outside from the truth we know on the inside
Rejoice always, Pray ceaselessly, be thankful in good and bad times, this is the fruit of faith and not the compromise of weak resignation. God’s will is not just getting what you want, and is seldom discernible by how we feel.
EVERYTHING BEGINS AND ENDS WITH PRAYER.

5. HOW!

Do all of the good that you can, Abstaining from evil and staying in Love with God, This scripture reflects our Methodist “general rules “

6. SO WHAT

Discernment is way Bigger than just words and church attendance, it is hard work and many won’t do it, It is scary and many more will ignore it. Do it!
Many of us walk in uncertainty. YOU DON”T HAVE TO! in these bullet points, taken from this letter are the starting points for aligning our vision and mission with God.
This is our Proposed vision Statement a statement of who we are, whose we are and a standard of testing for God’s will in our ministries for our Congregation. This is how we will test our ministries as a group, a family at Cheatham Memorial UMC!

SO…….. How do you pray for a Bulldog Football Game? You ask boldly, by faith and in the name of Jesus Christ for God to win regardless of the score instead of telling God what to do! I am a competitor! But when God wins, we all win.

This is the first of Five Sermons on discernment. See you next week.

Thanks for reading this post. I pray it encourages your life and leads you to worship in the church of your choice.

We would love to have you visit us at Cheatham Memorial UMC!

THE THOUGHTFUL PASTOR

Rev. Alan Van Hooser

Weekly Sermon Briefs: September 20, 2015, “Me Neither” Romans 1:1-17

Sermon Briefs: September 6, 2015 “How to Pray for A High School Football Game” 1Thessalonians 5:1-19