Good morning, CHURCH!

(Church joke of the day)

The church board of a nearby church met to discuss the pastor’s compensation package for the coming year.

After the meeting the chair of the board told the pastor: “We are very sorry, Pastor, but we decided that we cannot give you a raise next year.”

The poor pastor was so hurt by the decision of the board.

The pastor said, “But you must give me a raise.”

“Why,” said the board member?

“I am just a poor struggling preacher,” said the pastor.

“We know,” the board chair said.

“We hear you every Sunday.”

Are you ready to be equipped today?

Let me see your Bibles.

Let’s go to the book of 1 Peter 4:8 NLT for this week’s wisdom Vaccination.

This Week’s Wisdom Vaccination

1 Peter 4:8 NLT

Most important of all, continue to show deep love for each other, for love covers a multitude of sins.

Most important of all is a very strong statement.

The implication here may be that the love of God in us should cause us to overlooks one another’s faults.

A few versus earlier he mentioned that you may be slandered at times.

That’s okay. Overlook it with love.

Proverbs 10:12 “Hatred stirs up strife, but love covers all offenses.”

James 5:20 “let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.”

We are supposed to be covering up each others faults.

Listen to this:

Where love abounds in a fellowship of Christians, many small offences, and even some large ones, are readily overlooked and forgotten.

But where love is lacking, every word is viewed with suspicion, every action is liable to misunderstanding, and conflicts abound - to Satan’s perverse delight.

Question

Does the love of God abide in you enough to overlook the offences of your brother or sister in Christ?

Let’s get into today’s message.

One of the questions that so many Christians continue to have and struggle with is, “How do I hear God’s voice?”

And if you have uncertainty, it is a valid question to have.

Let me start off with a sure fire certainty that is indisputable.

Jesus said, His sheep hear is voice. (Do I have any of His sheep in here today?)

So, what i’m saying is that all of God’s children already hear His voice.

The issue is distinguishing His voice from all the other voices.

John 10:27 NLT

My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.

They recognize His voice.

They follow Him because they know His voice.

If you go and read John 10 in it’s entirety you’ll see, this is really a passage about believing what Jesus Christ our chief Shepard tells us versus believing the other voices in opposition to His.

With that said.

Today’s message title is:

Sheep Hear

As we have been fasting and praying since the new year has started, there is no better time than the present to teach about hearing the voice of God.

Especially as we come to an end of the 21 day fast.

If we are going to be successful in the Christian walk, we need to regularly hear God.

And it’s pretty obvious that He wants to speak to us.

How is it obvious?

He sent the Holy Spirit to dwell in us.

The question that I want to answer today is, “How do I hear from God?”

I’m going to focus in on three focus points in today’s message.

Point #1

Be Specific

Confessing sin in prayer is a great way to open the floodgates of God’s voice.

But blanket confessions won’t do.

Just like in our marriages, if we keep obvious issues between us in the dark as if they don’t exist, we shut the door on the intimacy in our marriage.

Wive’s don’t you hate it when your husband tries to say something like, “If I’ve done something to hurt or offend you, I’m sorry.”

That’s the card men will pull when they are tired of the negative energy between us and we just want to make it go away.

We’re not really interested in getting down to the nitty gritty about what’s bothering her.

Men, that’s too general. Too vague.

She’s waiting on specifics.

When we start getting specific, we can rebuild the intimacy that was lost by whatever was done.

When we are silent with God, He is often silent with us.

I can imagine God looking over at Jesus and saying, “Are they going to act like they haven’t just sinned, and think we’re going to talk intimately?”

And then we go into the presence of God and say something like, “Lord forgive me for any sins I’ve committed, knowingly or unknowingly.”

Again, I can see God looking over at Jesus and saying, “Did he just say unknowingly as if he and I don’t know what he did?”

God already knows, so you might as well get specific.

Remember the question God posed to Adam that wasn’t really a question.

Genesis 3:11 NLT

“Have you eaten from the tree whose fruit I commanded you not to eat?”

That was a specific question.

It’s almost as if God was hinting something to the fact that Adam you should have just told me you ate from the tree I commanded you not to.

Why do we need to get specific when taking our sins to God?

It takes real internal heart work to get specific and to be transparent.

And that is what God is after.

He’s after our hearts.

Listen to what the writer of Psalm 51 said.

Psalm 51:17 NLT

The sacrifice you desire is a broken spirit. You will not reject a broken and repentant heart, O God.

The enemy wants us to think just the opposite.

He wants us to believe that if we are open and transparent, we will be rejected.

Or, because humans often reject us, we are slow to get honest with God.

I met with the men on Tuesday and during worship I confessed to the Lord that I finished 2022 on autopilot.

After admitting what I’m sure God already knew, I felt so much lighter.

I felt a refreshing.

And I shouldn’t be surprised that I felt refreshed.

Acts 3:19-20 NLT

Now repent of your sins and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped away. 20Then times of refreshment will come from the presence of the Lord.

When we are specific with God about our sin, He doesn’t reject us.

He wipes the sin away.

And then we have refreshing fellowship together.

God is not trying to get us to be perfect. He is trying to get us to be intimate.

Jesus took care of the being perfect part.

Point #2

Be quiet and listen

Sometimes we as humans hate silence.

You go to God in prayer and ask a question and then get quiet.

In 7 seconds, you assume the answer is not going to come so you move to your next request.

Or in 7 seconds your mind begins to start thinking about something else.

We have to practice being quiet in the presence of God and quieting our minds.

What good is it for my mouth to be quiet in God’s presence but my mind is screaming loudly.

Even in our relationships we struggle with listening.

How am I going to listen to God when I can’t even listen to my spouse?

As soon as they are 12 seconds into whatever they are talking about, our mind is already calculating a response or comeback.

That’s not listening.

Psalm 46:10a NLT

“Be still and know that I am God!

Question!

Which one of these is more important to you?

God, the creator of the Heavens and the Earth listens to me.

God, the creator of the Heavens and the Earth speaks to me.

I can surely tell you which one would be more beneficial to you.

That the God who created the Heavens and the Earth speaks to me.

Jesus even told His disciples in Matthew 6:7:

Matthew 6:7 NLT

“When you pray, don’t babble on and on as the Gentiles do.

Listen to what God says in Isaiah 55.

Isaiah 55:3 NLT

“Come to me with your ears wide open. Listen, and you will find life. I will make an everlasting covenant with you. I will give you all the unfailing love I promised to David.

Listen!

Don’t handle God in prayer.

Prayer with God is not just some transaction we make daily to check the box.

Question!

Is God the top priority in your life?

Point #3

Come closer

Are you close enough to hear the voice of God?

If I’m trying to talk to you and there is a lot of noise around, you have to get closer to me to hear what I’m saying right.

As God speaks to us, we have to get near to him, in order to hear what He is saying.

God is not in the noise. God is in the whisper.

1 Kings 19:11-13 NLT

“Go out and stand before me on the mountain,” the Lord told him. And as Elijah stood there, the Lord passed by, and a mighty windstorm hit the mountain. It was such a terrible blast that the rocks were torn loose, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. 12 And after the earthquake there was a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire there was the sound of a gentle whisper. 13 When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his cloak and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave.

And a voice said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”

(Closing illustration)

If we want to hear God, we need to keep out of us, the things that keep us from being close to God.

Too much television

Too much social media

Too many distractions

Here is the plan for 2023.

Limit the distractions and obsess over God’s word.

If you’re watching online or here in the room, I have a very important question to ask you.

What is Holy Spirit saying to you right now?