Sermon Tone Analysis

RECOVERING YOUR LOST SPIRITUAL VITALITY

*Reconnecting With God*

*Part 2 of  3*

*Week 2 - September 17, 2006*

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Last week we began a three part series on the passage we’ve just read together entitled ‘Re-connecting with God’ and the question I asked last week was: What do you do when you’re in a spiritual slump and you don’t feel close to God, you don’t feel His presence in your life.

You feel like your prayers aren’t being heard; you feel empty inside; you’ve lost your cutting edge.

What do you do?

If you recall I said that you do the *four* things the man did in this story of the lost axe head.

First of all you admit you lost it and that’s where we began; that’s what we looked at last week.

That means you just stop living in denial and you face reality.

You admit you’re just not as close to God as you used to be.

That’s the first thing the man did; he admitted it; he confessed it to somebody else.

This morning we’re going to consider the next two things you do when you’ve lost your cutting edge, your passion for your Lord.

First, you admit you lost it.

186 words

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*2.

Acknowledge where you lost it.

* 974 words  (Intro.,

2&3 -  2018 words)

 

 

 

 

 

That’s the second step to reconnecting with God.

This man identified the exact spot where he lost his cutting edge.

Elisha asked him, “Where did you lose it?”

and the man pointed out the spot.  2 Kings 6:6 the man identified the spot.

/“Elisha asked, ’Where did it fall into the river?’ and the man showed him the exact spot.”/

Do you know where or how you lost your closeness to God?  Do you know why you don’t feel close any more?

There are many, many reasons that cause us to disconnect from God.  Here’s a few: 

 

               *Distractions and busyness*.

When I get busy with other things I tend to forget God.

Even if they’re good things I tend to forget God.

Sometimes I can go hours or even days in a spiritual dry spell not really thinking about God.

One of the easiest times to do that is the summer time because there’s lots of stuff going on, you’re trying to get caught up on things you couldn’t do the rest of the year, you’re relaxing or you’re enjoying the weather outside.

Those are all good things but you could go days without even thinking about God.

And you get distracted by busyness.

Serving God can keep you from loving God.

You could even be so busy doing good things but you don’t focus on simply loving God. 

 

                  *Disobedience* – not doing what you know God wants you to do.

When God tells me to do something and I ignore it or I wait on it or I delay it it’s an automatic disconnect.

What have you been procrastinating on?

What do you know God wants you to do and you still haven’t done it?

You plan to do it one of these days but you still haven’t done it.

“I know getting into a small group would be good for me...  I know reading my Bible would be good for me...  I know I should talk to God in prayer all the time but I don’t.

I keep putting it off.”

What do you keep delaying?

“I know I should go ask forgiveness from that person...  I know I should offer forgiveness to that person.”

Resentment is the major thing that causes you to disconnect from God.

If you hold on to resentment, if you hold on to anger in your heart it’s an automatic disconnect and you’re going to go through a spiritual slump.

When God tells you to do something you ought to do it now!

Not tomorrow, not next week because any disobedience like that – procrastination – is going to disconnect you from God. 

 

                    *Relying on your own power and pride*.

When I get presumptuous and I stop depending on God and I say, “I can live this Christian life without praying every day...  I’m a pretty good guy, I can make it on my own.”

I get arrogant.

I get prideful or presumptuous.

I’m automatically disconnecting from God.  I’m not meant to live this life on my own power.

I’m meant to live it on God's power.

*Carelessness or laziness*.

When I get lazy or when I get careless in my spiritual life and I stop doing the things that I know that keep me close to God.

I stop fellowshipping with other Christians.

I slow down and slack off from attending weekly worship.

I'll go this week then I'll take a couple weeks off.

I slack off on that kind of thing.

Or I get lazy with tithing or serving or sharing or any of those things that I know help my heart stay warm and close and tender to God.  I’m automatically going to be disconnected.

Step two in coming back to God, if you want to get out of your spiritual slump – *First*, Admit: “I lost it, God.

I’m not as close to You as I used to be.”  *Second*, I acknowledge where I lost it.

You get honest and you be specific.

Check which of those apply to your life.

If it’s none of these, write down the cause of your spiritual dryness?

It could be anger.

It could be fear.

It could be fatigue.

You could get so tired you say, I just don’t have time for God.

I’m not making any time talking to Him or letting Him talk to me through His word.

You need to be specific.

The good news is if we confess our sins to God, He can be counted on; He is faithful to forgive us, to cleanse us, to restore us back to Him.

Maybe you feel so disconnected from God and it’s been so long you don’t have the slightest idea what caused the disconnect.

You haven’t the slightest idea why you’re not close to God any more.

Maybe it was a relationship that kind of drew me astray.

Maybe it was a hobby.

Maybe it was a goal.

Maybe it was making money.

I don’t know what it was.

All I know is I’m not where I used to be with God.

What do you do when you can’t even figure out where or how you lost it?

You come back to God and you cry to Him and you say,  “God, I need Your help!

I can’t find my way to You.  I’m so confused.

Will You find Your way to me?”

You can say that to God.

You say, “I can’t see You but I need You.

I want You to bring me back to where I belong.”

If you’re tired of living the way you’ve been living you need to *Admit it*.

Then you need to *Acknowledge* where you lost it.

I’ve lost my spiritual spark.

I’ve lost my cutting edge.

I don’t know or maybe I do know what drew me away.

You acknowledge it and then you come to step Three.

But before we do that let’s sing again: 380 - Spirit of the living God 

So, you admit you’ve lost you’re cutting edge, you acknowledge where you lost it and *3.

Expect God to restore it*.

865 words

 

Expect God to give you back what has been lost.

This is the faith step.

I must believe that God can and will and wants to bring me back to Him in a close relationship.