Your Experiece is a Gift from God

Romans 8:28-30; Part VI in SHAPE Sermon Series

Jim Whittaker using a Modified Rick Warren’s Sermon Outline

      “We know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose.”        Rom. 8:28 (NIV)

Two pals are sitting in a pub watching the eleven-o'clock news. A report comes on about a man threatening to jump from the 20th floor of a downtown building. One friend turns to the other and says, "I'll bet you ten bucks the guy doesn't jump." "It's a bet," agrees his buddy. A few minutes later, the man on the ledge jumps, so the loser hands his pal a $10 bill. "I can't take your money," his friend admits. "I saw him jump earlier on the six-o'clock news." "Me, too," said the other buddy. "But I didn't think he'd do it again!"  

Ohio Motorist, Reader's Digest, June, 1994, p. 72.

When the scriptures say that God will make “all things work together for good for all that love God,” it means all. Our experiences in life are both good and bad. In fact, we need to be sure we understand this. It also includes mistakes we have made in life that are just plain stupid.  God can use our mistakes and poor judgment and make something good out of it. God does sometimes bring judgment upon us for a constant lack of concern about worshipping God. God wants to get your attention so God allows bad things to come into our life. The remarkable thing though is God wants the bad to bring something good. I am not denying the reality of death and disease, all I am saying is even in those cases, God wants good to come out of it. In this passage, it does give us a qualifier and that is to those who love God. 

Let me give you an example, in Genesis Joseph’s brothers sold him to a caravan going to Egypt as a slave. That’s bad. There is nothing good about it, but God desiring to do good for those who love him allows this bad event to help the survival of Israel. Joseph says, you meant it for bad, but God meant it for good. 

God was able to use his bad experience – sold into slavery and then later tossed into jail, to be compassionate person, full of wisdom, and used by God. 

I. Connecting with our Experience

Joseph did not run from his experience. Your experiences become a part of who you are. You have a brother, a sister, or a mother die of cancer. That becomes a part of who you are. You made a bad decision in your youth that still follows you. That is a part of who you are. Rick Warren gives this advice: “You’ve got to stop running from your past if God’s going to use it for good in your life.” 

Galatians 3:4 says this “You have experienced many things. Were all of these experiences wasted? I hope not.” 

Who is a person that is most likely to feel the pain of someone who is going to divorce? Someone who has already experienced that. What we can’t do is to deny our past experiences. We cannot rewrite our past or change our past. Maybe there is something in your past that was painful. God says, “I can use it for good.” 

We are not trying to deny that some experiences are painful. What we are saying is for God to use our experiences for good. We have embrace them all – good and bad. We as a family have been open about our own brush with abuse in our family. It does us no good to try to pretend it did not happen. It did. Are we going to let God use it for his glory or are we going to try to bury it? I am going with God, because I know – and I said I know, God will use our pain and make it so God can be glorified. God can turn our bad, our sad, and our good experience all for his glory. So don’t run from our own personal experiences. 

I knew a lady years ago that I used to take breaks at work with. She had been married 4 times. Men were really messed up. She could prove it. She had already gotten 4 bad ones. What surprised me was one day she told me she met a new man at a conference and was getting married for the 5^th time and moving to Chicago. Later, I heard it didn’t work. She got a divorce. Now either she was extraordinarily unlucky and picked 5 bad men, if that was the case, she needed to learn how to be a better judge of character. If she hadn’t picked 5 bad men, then maybe she needed to look at the possibility that she could be part of the problem. 

Do we learn from our experiences? If we don’t, we are doomed to make the same mistake over and over again. What good is that? 

2 Corinthians 13:5 says this in the Amplified, “Examine and test and evaluate your own selves to see whether you’re holding to your faith. [In other words you’ve got to extract the lessons.] 

What does that mean? You take some time to review the experiences of your life. What do you look for? You look for benefits, patterns and lessons. 

You embrace your experiences, you extract the lessons and…

Paul writes from prison in Philippians 1, “I want you to know, my friends, that the things that have happened to me have actually helped the progress of the gospel.” Paul is stating I am in prison but in the overall scheme of things, this has been good, because God’s work is getting done. Wow! Talk about optimism. Well, let’s learn from Paul’s example.   

II. Putting your Experiences to Work   

1. To Minister to others

Who can better help somebody going through cancer than somebody who’s been through cancer? Who can help somebody dealing with an addiction – to pornography, or medicines or drugs or million other things – than somebody whose been addicted to pornography or drugs or a million other things. Who can better help somebody deal with the pain of divorce than somebody who’s been there and knows what it’s like. Who can help someone deal with the problem of rejection or adultery than somebody who has experienced the problem of rejection and adultery? Who can better help the parents of a special needs child than parents who had a special needs child? And who can better help parents who had a kid who went off the deep end than somebody whose son or daughter went off the deep end? Who can better help someone through the loss of a loved one that someone who says I just lost my loved one last year? And who can better help somebody with AIDS than someone who has got AIDS. 

God never wastes a hurt. 

Listen to what Rick Warren says, “You always help people more through your weaknesses than your strengths.” Why? In weakness, you are working out of humility. In strength, you work out of pride. See the difference.   

If you don’t use your experience it’s wasted. All you get out of it is pain. Embrace the experiences, extract the lesson and use them to help others. Employ them to help others by ministering out of the very things you think you’d like to forget.

The Bible tells us in 1 Thessalonians 5:11 “Encourage one another.” Help one another. We’re to encourage. We’re to build up. We’re to motivate. We’re to inspire. How do you do that? You can do it three ways: You can give people hope. You can help people overcome their fears. And you can help people break down barriers. 

The third way that God wants you to use your experiences…

Not just minister and not just motivate but actually model for others. Paul says it like this in the book of Philippians 3:17 “Dear brothers, pattern your lives after mine and learn from those who follow our example.” Notice Paul says Follow my example. He says I’m going to be a model. 

A model – a smaller representation of the real thing. That’s a model. 

God wants you to be a model. According to Rick Warren, “Christian” means - Little Christ. A smaller representation of the real thing. There’s no way you are Jesus. You’re never going to be perfect. You are flawed, imperfect, smaller model. But God says I want you to be a Christ-tian. A Christian. A little Christ. 

Paul knew that we all need models. And we follow by example. Philippians 3 “Dear brothers and sisters, pattern your lives after mine and learn from those who follow our example.” That sounds pretty arrogant. Pretty audacious when he says I want you to follow me. Paul just understands human nature. It is human nature to imitate. Practically everything you learn in the first five years of life you learn by imitation. That’s how do you learn. There’s nothing wrong with imitation. That’s how you learn. 

Why was Jesus the greatest teacher ever in history? Because He modeled His message. He didn’t just say it. He lived it out. He incarnated the truth. It was incarnational teaching. The word became flesh and Jesus’ life was His message. He said this is how you do it, and then He did it. He didn’t say, “Do what I say not what I do,” as a lot of people do. He said, What you see is what you get. He modeled the message and He lived it. In John 13 He said this “I have given you a model to follow. As I have done for you, you should also do.”  Jesus says I want you to follow My model and then I want you to be a model. I expect you to be a model. I expect you to be a model for other people. As a Christ follower God expects you to do the same. Titus says, “Always set a good example [that’s a model] for others.” Amen.

Jim Whittaker based on Rick Warren’s Sermon Outline

PART 1: UNDERSTANDING YOUR ABILITIES

      “God … will equip you with all you need for doing His will.” Heb. 13:21 (LB)

In Romans 12:1 it states, we are to offer “our bodies as a living sacrifice” (NRSV). Wow! What a statement. We are to offer ourselves unto God. This verse concludes by saying again verse 1, this is how we “worship.” What we need to recognize in these two statements is that in God’s grace he has given us gifts or as the New Living Translation states, “God has given each of us the ability to do certain things well…” Rom. 12:6 (NLT) I will combine both of these verses by saying God has given to us our abilities. The proper way to worship God is to give those abilities back unto God. I give you this story:

Once upon a time there were some animals who decided to start a school for animals. They decided the courses would include running, climbing, swimming and flying. Then they

decided that all of the animals should take all of the courses. That’s where the problem started. The duck was better than his teacher at swimming. But he only made passing grades in flying and was very poor in running. So they made him drop swimming and stay after school to practice running. This caused his web feet to be badly worn and his grade dropped to average in swimming. But everybody felt less threatened and more comfortable with that – except the duck. The rabbit started at the top of his class in running but because of so much make up work in swimming he caught pneumonia and had to drop out of school. The squirrel showed outstanding ability in climbing but he was extremely frustrated in flying class because the teacher insisted that he start from the ground up rather than the treetop down. He developed Charlie horses from over extension so he only got a C in climbing and a D in running. The eagle was the problem student and was disciplined for being a nonconformist. For instance in climbing classes he beat all the others to the top of the tree but he insisted on using his own way to get there. Finally because he refused to participate in swimming class he was expelled. From: Rick Warren: Sermon on Using Our Abilities.

Doesn’t it make sense to give what God has given us as our natural abilities back unto God. Listen to this verse from Hebrews: God … will equip you with all you need for doing His will.” Heb. 13:21 (LB). I am going to give you 4 reasons to give God what God has already gifted you to be. 

Part II: WHY MY ABILITIES ARE TO BE USED...

      1.               _To Honor God                                             

      “… whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.” 1 Cor. 10:31 (NIV)

Give what you got to honor God. You may not know this about me. I love to tell stories. I live in fantasy land. I am always exaggerating facts to the grandkids. One of my favorites that I told my children while they were growing up that it didn’t snow like it used to, and they didn’t cancel school when it did snow. The story line would go like this: when I was growing up they didn’t cancel school for snow and I remember the time it snowed a foot deep and I walked to school uphill in the snow both ways. You can’t walk uphill both ways. That is an obvious exaggeration. Dianna was a model student in high school.   I was a student. I didn’t mind reading books and doing book reports. The problem was that might not be on my agenda. I still remember the day I went into 9^th grade English class and found out we were to give an oral book report to the class that day. I hadn’t even read a book. Well, I did what I do and I created on the spot a story line and a book. I have to confess this is not a good way to honor God. It is not a good way to learn, and certainly not a good model to follow, but what if I take story telling and write a book or make a play, or use it to give sermon illustrations. Use what you got to give honor to God. 

 A lot of men will say, “I am good with my hands. I want to do something with my hands.” I know a man who started a ministry called “Helping Hands.” It was a ministry that took on small local carpentry work for the elderly and the least of these. Interested? Call Social Services and see if they know of a project you can do. 

Ephesians 4 says some are called to be church builders, some pastors, and some teachers. These are all needed for a church to exist, but ministry cannot happen if those who can cook don’t cook, or those who tend to the sick, don’t tend to the sick. Honor God with what you got!

      2.              __        _To Serve Others                                           

      “God has given each of you some special abilities; be sure to use them to help each other, passing on to others God's many kinds of blessings.”   1 Peter 4:10 (LB)

God has gifted you so you can gift others. Our abilities are not given to us so we can build a mansion on a hill, or to accumulate way more wealth than we can ever need. What if ever body that calls this church home, used what God has given them to be a blessing to others. Would the church look different? Would there be more ministries? What if we felt that local needs were being adequately met, would we move over a county and help the urban poor of Sanford or Raleigh? What if ever church acted this way? Would Christianity in America look different? 

A pastor in our district commented that his Pastor Parrish realized that he could not be excellent in all things, and the areas they found him to be deficient, they said they would lead and do in those areas. We are all in ministry together. What a wonderful thing that the church stepped up so the pastor could lead. 

What is a special ability God has given you? Are you using it for God? You like landscaping – then update our landscaping. Carpentry – we still haven’t put in windows in the doors for Safe Sanctuaries. Help us out and make it happen. You like flowers – volunteer to bring some to church. You like children – step up and say I will make nursery happen when you do Wednesday night lectures or I will make the nursery look like Disney Land. 

This serving begins in what Ephesians 4 describes as “equipping others for ministry.” An argument could be made that a preacher’s job is to help make others equipped so that the ministry of Christ is expanded. 

            3. ______To be an Example to Others________________________

      “Put these abilities to work; throw yourself into your tasks so everyone may notice your improvement and progress.” 1 Tim. 4:15 (LB)

When Christ has your heart, we give him our abilities and in doing so we become an example of Christ to others. We may get opportunities to help others in the name of Christ that was unexpected. I stopped to help someone fill up with gas just the other week. That is an unexpected example to help others, but I believe God calls us to be an ongoing example to others. 

Name right now what ability you are giving to God on an ongoing basis. Sometimes, we need to created ways to do this. That is OK. We are being the church as we give of ourselves as an example to others. 

Help with the children – this is an example of servanthood. 

Lead a Bible Lesson – this is an example of teaching.

Invite a neighbor to church – this is an example of love and concern. 

Sometimes our examples have to be more bold – listen to this story:

One Sunday morning in 1865, a black man entered a fashionable church in Richmond, Virginia. When Communion was served, he walked down the aisle and knelt at the altar. A rustle of resentment swept the congregation. How dare he! After all, believers in that church used the common cup. Suddenly a distinguished layman stood up, stepped forward to the altar, and knelt beside the black man. With Robert E. Lee setting the example, the rest of the congregation soon followed his lead. 

Today in the Word, September, 1991, p. 15.

            4.        _____To Build up the Church                                                           

      “Why is it that God gives us these special abilities to do certain things best? It is that God's people will be equipped to do better work for Him, building up the Church, the body of Christ, to a position of strength and maturity.”                                                              Eph. 4:12 (LB)

If you were to dream a dream of this church as built up and as one of strength, what would it look like? If it looks exactly the same as now, then your vision of God is too small or is it we expect too little from God and ourselves. If you are to dream a dream of the church build up, there should be new people joining the church. There should be new ministries. There should be new outreach. Our God is big enough to make it happen, are we big enough to see our place where we can use our ability to make it happen. 

Look around is there anyone that should be here and is not? Are there some struggling with addictions? Family issues? Where are the people that look different whether they are black or have tattoos? God has given us a commission to seek out the lost and to encourage the saints. 

     

“Take the talent from him (who didn’t use it) and give to the one who has ten talents.”                   Matt. 25:28 (NIV)

     

If I don’t use them,     I Lose Them                           

PART III: Make the Step - USING YOUR ABILITIES

      1. Dedicate Them             !

      “Offer yourselves as a living sacrifice to God, dedicated to His service and pleasing to Him.” Rom. 12:1 (GN)

      “If you stay away from sin…Christ Himself can use you for His highest purposes.”                 

      2 Tim. 2:21 (LB)

During my life time, I have dedicated myself to several goals. I dedicated myself to become a licensed surveyor. I dedicated myself to become a CPA. I dedicated myself to become an ordained minister. We all dedicate ourselves toward something. We need to dedicate ourselves unto God’s work using the abilities he has given us. 

When I was 20 years old, I started teaching a Senior Adult Sunday Class where the average age was 65. I don’t know if I taught them anything but they wanted me to try. They saw a possibility. Was I willing? I have been teaching in some form or fashion for 33 years now. Dedicating yourself to God is more than just doing it when it feels good or if we are in the mood. Dedicating ourselves unto God is to give ourselves fully into the Lord’s work. 

In my example, teaching was my gift. Others saw the gift in me, and they challenged me to use my gift for God. 

      2. Cultivate THEM!

      “If the ax is dull and its edge unsharpened, more strength is needed but skill will bring success.” Eccl. 10:10 (NIV)

“Jesus said, ‘When the Master comes back and finds his servant doing his work, that servant will be blessed!’” Luke 12:43 (NCV)

There are several things I will say about teaching. First, I tried. You can’t succeed or fail if you don’t try. I took a Sunday School Teacher class. I read books. I studied. I tried to better myself. That doesn’t mean I have it all figured out. It means I have tried to make what God has given me better by use. 

You ever buy a new iron skillet. They are heavy, and they don’t cook at all like grandma’s, but if you spend the time with the skillet – cook something greasy or bake cornbread – the skillet slowly becomes seasoned. Things don’t stick like they used to and it might even become your favorite skillet. Using the skillet makes it better, but there is a certain way you are to use it. You can ruin the finish on the skillet and have to start all over again. 

God wants you to be seasoned so that you are exactly what God has called you to be. The first step is this: accept Jesus in your heart. That means you are saying God I am going to change. The second step is build a life on Jesus that consists of confessing our mistakes, goof ups, and making that change real. The change we are talking about is giving all you have been given – your abilities and talents – unto God for God to use for his glory. Do you need to make a step today. The first step – the Second step, or perhaps you have lost your way and you need to reconnect and start the process all over again. Jesus has three words for you today. Come unto him. Amen. 

Sermon – A Heart for God; Series:  SHAPE – Our Spiritual Gifts

June 28, 2009 – 4^th Sunday of Pentecost

I watched Cold Case last Sunday, and there was an episode where a dad, his son and daughter defected from Russia to the US on the daughter’s singing tour.  She had a marvelous soprano voice and could sing absolutely beautiful.  After they defected, she got admitted to a top un-named school like Julliard.  Her teacher kept telling her she had to find “her” voice.  She was just singing as beautiful as it was.  She needed to sing from the “heart.”  There was no joy in her singing even though she was extraordinarily talented.  When our heart is not in something we underperform and burn out.  She had to find her heart.  We too need to find our heart’s desire as well.

I give you this definition of “Heart” as we now take on the second letter of acrostic SHAPE.  The first letter “S” was for spiritual gifts.  The second letter “H” is for heart.  This definition of “Heart” is given by Rick Warren:  HEART = your interests, passions, desires.  He supports this text with this Bible verse:  It is God who produces in you the desires and actions that please Him.”  Phil. 2:13 (GW)

Now let’s take a test.  I am going to read on of C.S. Lewis’ most powerful quotes that comes from Mere Christianity.  Is your heart one that demonstrates the love of Christ?  Are your passions of Christ?  Is your desire of Christ?  Now here is the quote:

Christ says, "Give me all. I don't want so much of your time and so much of your money and so much of your work: I want you. I have not come to torment your natural self, but to kill it. No half-measures are any good. I don't want to cut off a branch here and a branch there. I want to saw the whole tree down. I don't want to drill the tooth, or crown it, or stop it, I want the tooth out. Hand over the whole natural self, all the desires which you think are innocent as well as the ones you think are wicked—the whole outfit.”

Is your heart Christ’s heart?  We might have some difficulty hearing C.S. Lewis’ definition of being sold out on God, but if we are aligned with who God made us to be, our heart, our passions, and our interests will give God glory, and we can be sold out to God, because that is how he made us. 

Romans 12:11 says, “do not lag in zeal.”  That is our passion, our desire, and to have a heart for God.  The problem is there are many things that will keep us from demonstrating a zeal or a heart for God.  Rick Warren identifies five.  I am certain we could name more, but we will look at these five. 

Disappointment will stop zeal, passion, and a desire to follow God.  We are often disappointed in relationships, careers, business dealings, in parents, in our children, and even in church.  That’s only about other people.  We are also disappointed in ourselves, the economy, and the world.  Disappointment abounds.

We are disappointed because expectations are too high, because it didn’t turn out our way, or we have a misalignment with what God desires.  Do not let disappointment be the winner.  The apostle Paul constantly says to “encourage one another” (I Thes. 5:11), and the writer of Hebrews says, “encourage one another (Heb. 10:25). 

When we live in disappointment, we are NOT living where God wants us to be.  You can not be full of zeal and be disappointed at the same time.  We have to choose between our desires and God’s desires.  Romans 8:24 says, “in hope we were saved.”  Romans 5:5 says, “hope does not disappoint us.”  We have a great salvation!  Paul says in Philippians 4:4, “rejoice, again I say rejoice!”

Are we filled with disappointment or joy?  It is easy for us to be distracted.  Stealing our joy is one of the devil’s tools.  God wants us to be full of zeal.  Let me give you some examples of zeal rather than disappointment.

Adam Hamilton asked his most faithful to worship on Christmas Eve Eve so that there would be room for guests on Christmas Eve night the largest church service of the year.  Could you do it with zeal?  How about when the Christmas Eve Eve service got full that the pastor then asked the most faithful if they would worship on Christmas Eve Eve Eve (3 days before Christmas)?  Would you do it?  If you have a zeal to love others, to make disciples for Christ, and to be the hands and feet for Christ, you are going to be willing to do what may seem uncomfortable.

Philippians 2:3 says, “do nothing for selfish reasons.”  Disappointment must go if you are going to fully and faithfully serve our Lord and our God.  Let it go brothers and sisters. 

A church that is on fire for Jesus Christ has one motive – “I am going to do whatever it takes to win others for Christ.”  If that is not our attitude, then we need to get it right.  Are we a soul winning station or a club house?

Fear robs our ability to think outside of the box.  Fear will keep us from trying something new.  Fear will hold back a passion for Christ.  What is your fear?  Sometimes we are afraid of heights.  We can become afraid of relationships.  We can become fearful of failure or what others may think.  The #2 heart stopper is fear.  Fear will keep our hearts from being on fire for Christ. 

I’ll tell you what my fear is.  I am fearful that on the day of the Great White Throne judgment, God is going to ask me, Jim why didn’t you do my mission to “seek out and to save the lost.”  I am afraid that God will say Jim why did you play church and just go through the motions rather than to be willing to be as Paul prayed in Philippians 2:14, “help me to be more bold without fear.” 

I have to remind myself that in Christ “perfect love casts our fear” (I Cor. 13).  When I am fearful, I am not trusting God.  I can be fearful for my job, my family, and my home.  Jesus said, “I take care of the sparrows of the field, can I not take care of you?” (Mat. 6).  How does fear play itself out in the Christian life.  Take the Parable of the Talents.

God gave one person many talents and they put them to use.  A second person also was given some talents not as much as the first, and they put them to use.  A third person was fearful of God so he refused to use his gifts, because they might mess up, make a mistake, do in the wrong direction, or they might fail.  They thought it is better to fail, than to risk being successful.  God told them, Satan has deceived you, risk is a part of life.  You risk each day for safety and health, yet you would not risk for the kingdom of God.  Instead of entering the kingdom, you are banished from the kingdom for you do not have a heart of God. 

The #3 heart stopper is guilt.  Guilt is to forever be sentenced to the past.  We are constantly thinking about what could have happened and maybe should have happened and forget our God is a God of forgiveness and each day we start life anew. 

As a person who has not fully committed themselves unto God, they should have guilt.  God is convicting them to commit their life, but as Christians we realize that Jesus Christ has defeated the guilt of our uncommitted life unto him.  To live in guilt is to live a defeated life. 

Jesus gave us the examples of two brothers.  The father asked them in the morning to go out and help in the field or to help in the family business.  It was busy season and their help was needed.  One son said they would go and did not while the other son said they would not go but did.  Jesus asked, which one did the father’s bidding?  It was the son who felt the guilt of his behavior and did his father’s bidding.  Guilt can move us, but it also can stop us. 

The warning here is to not live in the past, but in the present.  God forgives our sins.  Today is a day of new beginnings.  When guilt dictates our life, we are caught in the past and have not released our past to God.

The #4 heart stopper is bitterness.  Rick Warren said, “bitterness will eat you alive.  It is worse than cancer.”  Bitterness is the root of revenge and retaliation.  Bitterness will lead us to side with the enemy rather than God.  I give you three words, “Let it go!”  We have a choice, “get bitter, or get better.” 

Holding onto bitterness is like trying to drive a car through the rear view mirror.  That might make sense if you are going backwards, but not if you are going forward.  If you are going forward, you have to take your eyes of the mirror.  The mirror represents the past and what is behind you.  To move forward, you have to look to where you are going. 

Bitterness often occurs in church life because somebody didn’t do what you expected or thought that they should do or maybe they said some hurtful words.  Some years ago in West Virginia, someone in our church interpreted a man who said “the pastor’s wife sure runs around” to mean that she was unfaithful.  There was no attempt to clarify that position.  The end result was the pastor confronted the person who said that and was shocked at the pastor for even thinking such a thing.  There was bitterness on the pastor’s part, on the person who said it, and the person who heard it.  God can’t work in bitterness.  There was only one solution, “let it go.” 

Don’t let God’s passion in our life be stamped out because of bitterness. 

The last heart stopper is rejection.  Anytime we have been rejected, it hurts.  We have been rejected by boy friends and girl friends.  We have been rejected by employers.  Rejection regrettably is a part of life.  We will not live without some rejection.  The issue is what do we do with it?  When we live in rejection, we are again living in the past.  We are allowing something that might have happened days or decades ago control us right now.  God’s gift is acceptance.  Christ took the rejection of the world on the cross to die for us so that we could be accepted unto God. 

Paul gives us some advice in Colossians 3:  “Whatever your task, put yourselves into it.”  Whatever God has gifted you to do, go for it.  It is the secret of success.  God wants us to be happy, and we can never be fully happy until we do what God has made us to do it.  Jobs will let us down, and even close relationships will let us down.  God will never let us down. 

Don’t let rejection, close of your heart to living in full obedience unto God. 

How can we Better Position ourselves to Give our Heart unto God?

If you are looking for better spiritual health and want to prevent the spiritual disease issues we just mentioned, you begin by fully opening yourself unto God.  I liked this saying by Rick Warren, “You cannot be connected with God and be dispassionate.”  By the very definition of who God is and the work he desires to do in our lives and in the world, will move us toward passion.  We first have to get rid of all of the heart stoppers that will keep us from being able to hear God’s word to us. 

When we open our heart unto God all of those disappointments, fear, bitterness, guilt, and rejection are cast out.  These do not build up the Kingdom of God, it tears it down.  When God fully has our heart, the passion and desire of God just grows and grows. 

The saying, “ I will do whatever it takes to win some for Christ” is no longer a saying, it is a way of life. 

While we were in church in Cary, I watched how one person became the push for a great ministry. 

-          One lady got the church to be a partner for Interfaith so homeless people could sleep at the church one week a quarter.

-          Another man became the push for Carying Place, where people who were trying to transition from being homeless back into society could get their feet back on the ground. 

-          Another man helped make prison ministry happen with Disciple Bible Outreach.

-          One man made Wednesday night dinners happen at the church.

-          How could we forget the difference one woman, Helen Little, has made in the life of the people in Haiti.  Helen won the evangelism award this year for the laity.

What I am trying to say, when God gets hold of your heart – things happen.  It might be family worship at home or community ministry but God has a plan for you.  God made you with desires and passions.  For us to be where God wants us to be, we need to align ourselves with God. 

Once we have opened our heart unto God, God can heal us.  The author of the book SHAPE, Erik Rees, shared with Rick Warren that his father was an abusive father.  He beat his mother until she left.  He was told he was not good and would never amount to anything.  He father shocked him with an electric cord for lying.  This lead Rick to seek out drugs and solace in eating.  He became overweight and the kids at school made fun of him.  It would seem that this was the end of the road for him.  Everything was spiraling downward, but God got a hold of him and saved him.  He got placed in a Christian home with Foster Care (think Methodist Home for Children), and his life was turned around.  His life had been a wreck.  It took years but God healed him.  God heals us from hurt when we open our lives unto him. 

Once God has saved you, taken away those heart stoppers, and healed us, we need to listen to what God is saying to us.  I believe God can do mighty things through a small church.  I am going to take next Sunday off to go to a small church in Harnett County called “Solid Rock” that had just about closed and now is classified as only one of two churches that are “Thriving in a Rural Community.”  I want to go and see what they are doing because they are touching people of all ages, all races, and all economical situations.  They have a pre-school and a theological school.  They are not just surviving or maintaining, they are making a huge difference in their community. 

Only a few years ago, their situation looked bleak, but they opened their heart, got healed, and listened to God.   And yes, when I mentioned that there was a church where they gather to pray 3 and 4 times a week at 5:30 in the morning, it was this church.  Mercy Me wrote a song called “What if the People Prayed.”  The song talks about the difference that could happen in the church.  How do we respond?  Listen to God.  God might be speaking to you this morning and some great ministry that only you can do is to be accomplished. 

Today, God I give my heart to you.  Open my heart, heal me, and teach me to listen to you.  Heal me from my heart stoppers and help me to be a Kingdom Builder.  God I want to do whatever it takes to win some for you so reveal unto me how that I can give you my desires, and my passions so that I can be in true ministry for you just as you made me.  Amen. 

Your Experience is a Gift from God – Are You Using Your Gift?