"Listen To Him" | Luke 9:28-35 Part one

Introduction

We are live in a world of noice, 24hours circle, social media,technology. We encourage to continually speak, take side, give our opinion on every matter. Yet in all these dialogues and communication we hardly listen.

According to Kate Murphy, a journalist, New York Times contributor, and author of the book, “You are not listening. What you are missing and why it matters,” “It is only by listening that we engage, understand, connect, empathize, and develop as human beings. It is fundamental to any successful personal, professional, and political relationship.”

# Parents are delighted when their children/child hear or listen to them.# Children want to be listen to. # We want our doctors to listen to us. # We want our spouses to listen to us.

Read the Scripture

People of BUMC, turn with me to Luke 9:28–35 where God came down in His shekinah glory to reveal the secret of how we can engage God, understand God, and connect with God.

Question: DO YOU WANT TO KNOW GOD?

Luke 9:28–34 (NLT):

About eight days later Jesus took Peter, John, and James up on a mountain to pray. 29 And as he was praying, the appearance of his face was transformed, and his clothes became dazzling white.

Principle to Listen to Him

To “Listen to Him” as God instructed the disciples - to listen attentively and obey Jesus we must be a people of Prayer.

-We must move away from any distraction and find the time to pray

Jesus was the most busy person, He had a healing hospital, interfacing with crowd all day

Yet He found to time getaway from all the distraction and find a quite place(a mountain) to pray

Do you have a closet time? Where you can closed the “door” shut door to pray?

Jesus said in Luke 18:1 we ought to pray and not give-up.

A Church wide challenge for Lent Season (40days)

Lent is a season of the Christian year where Christians focus on simple living, prayer, and fasting in order to grow closer to God. There is not greater blessing to grow closer to God then to Listen to Christ.

***Practical the message with a challenge to practice Listening to Jesus in the place of prayer and obedience to the Words of Jesus

Let us commit to prayer for 40 days | Day and night

Prayer pattern in Matthew 6:6 (NLT): But when you pray, go away by yourself, shut the door behind you, and pray to your Father in private. Then your Father, who sees everything, will reward you.

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SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 2024 | PART TWO OF “LISTEN TO HIM”

30 Suddenly, two men, Moses and Elijah, appeared and began talking with Jesus. 31 They were glorious to see. And they were speaking about his exodus from this world, which was about to be fulfilled in Jerusalem. 32 Peter and the others had fallen asleep. When they woke up, they saw Jesus’ glory and the two men standing with him. 33 As Moses and Elijah were starting to leave, Peter, not even knowing what he was saying, blurted out, “Master, it’s wonderful for us to be here! Let’s make three shelters as memorials—one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” 34 But even as he was saying this, a cloud overshadowed them, and terror gripped them as the cloud covered them. 35 Then a voice from the cloud said, “This is my Son, my Chosen One. Listen to him.” 36 When the voice finished, Jesus was there alone. They didn’t tell anyone at that time what they had seen.

Re cup

Last week I said the first principle to “Listen to Christ” is developing a PRAYER life- determined in your heart to be a men or woman or person of prayer.

-Jesus said we must be consistent in our life and NOT faint / give up -Luke 18:1 Let your prayer alter be active and never get tire if you desire to a listener of Jesus. Someone who paid closed attention to Christ and his instruction.

In 1 Thess. 5:17 - the Apostle Paul wrote to the early Christians to encourage them to “Never Stop Praying”

Prayer moves us away from the world, the challenges , the difficulties we face and turn us to God. It is through prayer we surrender to God with faith that God will grand us the grace, peace and strength to overcome.

FOCUS ONLY ON JESUS

The second principle is to learn focus only on Jesus- In this Jesus we say in our mission statement “Centered In Christ”- Christ is the centered interest and focus of our activities.

We the voice of God echo through that cloud of glory saying “This is my Son, my Chosen One. Listen to him.”

-God was instructing the disciples and us today the way to live our Christian lives everyday “ Listening to Jesus” focusing on him only.

**In John 14:6 Jesus give a definitive reason why we need to listen or hear Him only:

John 14:6 (CSB)

“Jesus told him, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

CAPTURING THE MOMENT

Today in our world every who can afford it have a cell phone in hand at all times.

Everyone likes to capture the “moment” trap a an event in time through a camera lens. Sometime, we can travel through memories to experience that moment.

EXAMPLE: Do you look at your wedding photos, grandchild, when you were younger and fill with life? (This an opportunity to connect with congregation)

PETER REACTION:

The text says when Peter and his two friends woke-up from “DEEP SLEEP” and saw the amazing site of God’s glory on this mountain top and not only that: Moses, Elijah standing with Jesus and about to leave,

Peter proposed an idea using the old available technology of his time.

To build three shelter- Tabernacle-or memories

Some one said “Peter realized they were in a kingdom setting which triggered the idea that they build three shelters.

Peter may have been thinking of the Feast of Booths, a feast of ingathering long associated with the coming kingdom (cf. Zech. 14:16–21). He seemed to have assumed that the kingdom had arrived.

John A. Martin, “Luke,” in The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures, ed. J. F. Walvoord and R. B. Zuck, vol. 2 (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1985), 231.

Whatever the case the Bible says : “He not knowing what he was saying.”

If I was there I would pull out my iPhone and capture the amazing moment

Jesus Baptizing

As it was on his baptizing (Luke 3:22) a voice spoke to those witnessing the event. So the presence of God in the symbol of the cloud speaks again “ LISTEN TO HIM”

In Deuteronomy 18:15 Moses instructed the people of Isreal “The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own brothers. You must listen to him.”

Something the disciples may have read.

Focus only on Jesus Christ.

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Sunday, February 25, 2023 Part three of the Series

“LISTEN TO HIM” | 2 Peter 1:16-21

Two Sundays ago we started to explore the subject of Listening to Jesus as commended by God when Him came down in a cloud of glory to testify about Jesus as recorded by Luke 9:28-32

We have identified the following principals to help become attentive listener in the midst of all the noise and confusion on our world:

BE A PERSON OF PRAYER

Minimize distraction ( closet or mountain side approach)

Jesus prayed always and for everything

Jesus always found the time and space to pray

FOCUS ON JESUS

PPrioritize your relationship Jesus Christ above all else

Matthew 16:24 (CSB) “Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If anyone wants to follow after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me.”

The third principal I want you to prayerfully consider if you desire to hear from God and hear the voice of Jesus as you follow him is:

TRUST IN GOD’S PROMISE

You must trust in God and in the promises of God.

There is no good and fruitful relationship w/o “trust”

Peter eyewitness

Peter one of the eyewitness of the transfiguration in our main text record this event in 2 Peter 1:16-21 as a basics why the readers of his letter must trust God and remind firm in their faith:

2 Peter 1:16–21 CSB

16 For we did not follow cleverly contrived myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ; instead, we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. 17 For he received honor and glory from God the Father when the voice came to him from the Majestic Glory, saying “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well-pleased!” 18 We ourselves heard this voice when it came from heaven while we were with him on the holy mountain. 19 We also have the prophetic word strongly confirmed, and you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts. 20 Above all, you know this: No prophecy of Scripture comes from the prophet’s own interpretation, 21 because no prophecy ever came by the will of man; instead, men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.

Do you trust God? and in God’s promises?

Author: Kenneth Morris answer this question for himself when he wrote:

There are some things I may not know, There are some places I can't go, But I am sure of this one thing That God is real for I can feel Him deep within.

Refrain: Yes, God is real, real in my soul, Yes, God is real for He has washed and made me whole; His love for me is like pure gold, Yes, God is real for I can feel Him in my soul.

2 Some folks may doubt, some folks may scorn, All can desert and leave me alone, But as for me I'll take God's part For God is real and I can feel Him in my heart. [Refrain]

There Are Some Things I May Not Know (Yes, God Is Real)

Is God real to you? not how you feel on a given day but in your soul?