What God does in you He wants to do through you

SERIES: The Hope of Revival

ENGAGE

If you have a Bible with you today, go ahead and open up to the Gospel of Mark Chapter 12.

The Title of my message is: “What God does in you He wants to do through you”

Tell the Story of Mark 12:28:

A scribe decides to ask Jesus a question after realizing the wisdom with which Jesus spoke

Of all the commandments…which one is MOST important!?

There were 613+ different laws

Some religious leaders tried to distinguish between major and minor laws

Others taught that all laws were equally binding and that to make any distinctions was dangerous

This scribe was asking Jesus: What really matters? What do you think about it?

TENSION

Have you ever found yourself asking this same question before?

“God, what really matters?”

I want to encourage you today, if you find yourself asking this question you are actually well positioned to experience breakthrough.

Pray

TRUTH

What God does in you He wants to do through you

Mark 12:29–30 NLT

29 Jesus replied, “The most important commandment is this: ‘Listen, O Israel! The Lord our God is the one and only Lord. 30 And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength.’

Historical Background:

Jesus quotes the Shema (Dt 6:4-5), which was the daily confession that pious Jews would recite every morning and evening

This confession affirmed God is the only God (monotheism)

And that the primary affection we are called to relate to God with is “Love”

Love God with al your heart.

What is “the heart”? The heart is our center of thinking and affections

Proverbs 4:23 NLT

Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life.

Everything flows out of the heart.

The heart impacts the soul, mind, and strength

Example: what we watch, listen to, or read (impacts what we meditate on, perceive, and learn)

What God does in you He wants to do through you

Mark 12:31 NLT

31 The second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ No other commandment is greater than these.”

“The best way for us to demonstrate that we have understood and accepted God’s love is to learn to imitate him as closely as possible in the way we treat others.” -Chip Ingram

Love Your Neighbor as yourself. (Love People)

This second commandment can only be accomplished as we prioritize the first commandment

The second commandment is rooted in the first commandment

It’s being in God’s Presence that opens us to His heart for His people

7340 When you come to Jesus Christ and accept him as your Lord and Savior, he gives you a supernatural love that allows you to love your enemy whom you normally would not love.

Billy Graham

Graham was right when he said this. It’s the love encounter we experience with the Lord that allows us to effectively love others

Freely you have received, freely give!

Dig Deeper:

Some of you today choose not to love people because they don’t deserve it or haven’t earned it. Can I remind you and I don’t deserve the love of God that He has lavished on us?

Main Point: What God does in you He wants to do through you

APPLICATION

What does it look like for God to work in me and through me?

Draw the Circle:

Hosting the Presence- Prioritize worshipping the Lord (invite others to worship with you)

Revelation- Prioritize reading God’s Word (invite others to read God’s Word with you)

Breakthrough- Prioritize prayer (invite others to pray with you)

=REVIVAL.

As we prioritize these things and invite others to do them with us, we will experience revival. It’s guaranteed.

#Revival is anytime a people allow what God is doing in them to happen through them.

4    Revival normally begins among God’s people, but before long, like water surging through a broken levee, revival overflows and spills into our society.

Pat Robertson

Six Steps to Spiritual Revival (2002)

Pat Robertson

INSPIRATION

Imagine a church who experienced ever increasing revival through simple being in God’s Presence as a community.