More Passion

Series Introduction

Were gonna start a three week series tonight that I want to call “More”

Illustration about more

Series Purpose

I want us to look at and talk about the “More” God has for us.

Ask: “What do you think more means?”

Potential Answers: Additional, extra, a greater amount….

Further

As we go through this series I want us to look at more in a different context though..

The context of Further..

When we are talking about the more God has for us, I want us to consider that God wants to take us Further..

and I want us to look at three areas of our lives we see God for us to go further.. Where he desires more for us..

In our passion for him..

In our purpose for him..

And were gonna end with Eternity..

God wants us to god further..

He wants more from, for, and with us..

So I want you to consider that as we start tonight and talk about more Passion.

More Passion

I want to look at what you may think is a quirky passage of scripture tonight..

one that sounds a little odd and seems strange..

but in it, God is telling the people of Israel something very signifigant.

Look at the passage.

Jeremiah 13:1–11 ESV

Thus says the Lord to me, “Go and buy a linen loincloth and put it around your waist, and do not dip it in water.” So I bought a loincloth according to the word of the Lord, and put it around my waist. And the word of the Lord came to me a second time, “Take the loincloth that you have bought, which is around your waist, and arise, go to the Euphrates and hide it there in a cleft of the rock.” So I went and hid it by the Euphrates, as the Lord commanded me. And after many days the Lord said to me, “Arise, go to the Euphrates, and take from there the loincloth that I commanded you to hide there.” Then I went to the Euphrates, and dug, and I took the loincloth from the place where I had hidden it. And behold, the loincloth was spoiled; it was good for nothing. Then the word of the Lord came to me: “Thus says the Lord: Even so will I spoil the pride of Judah and the great pride of Jerusalem. This evil people, who refuse to hear my words, who stubbornly follow their own heart and have gone after other gods to serve them and worship them, shall be like this loincloth, which is good for nothing. For as the loincloth clings to the waist of a man, so I made the whole house of Israel and the whole house of Judah cling to me, declares the Lord, that they might be for me a people, a name, a praise, and a glory, but they would not listen.

Strange

wow

I dont know about you..

but I found that passage a little quirky..

Here we find the prophet Jeremiah..

The one who is speaking on behalf of God for the people..

and God tells him..

Listen.. Go buy a lion cloth..

Ask: “Do you guys know what a lion cloth is?”

Potential Answers: A lion cloth is a piece of clothing.. its like a skirt but much tighter.. and probably more revealing..

But what you need to understand for this context is it is an intimate piece of clothing..

It was like underwear..

You wear it really close to you body..

Continue

Good thing were dont have visual aids tonight huh?

And God say go buy this thing..

Put it on..

And then he tells him..

God hide it by the river..

If i were the prophet i might be wondering if gods gone crazy at this point right?

So the prophet does this.

He buys it, Wears it, And hides..

Only for God to tell him a few days later..

Go find it..

And when he goes to retrieve the loin cloth its spoiled..

Ruined and unusable..

God Explains

And then God explains the analogy here.. the visual aid if you will.. so people can understand what he is saying..

The Problem

and He says..

Jeremiah 13:10 ESV

This evil people, who refuse to hear my words, who stubbornly follow their own heart and have gone after other gods to serve them and worship them, shall be like this loincloth, which is good for nothing.

God says..

israels Pride… and stubborness has make them good for nothing..

They chose to follow thier own self.. isntead of me..

and chose to serve other gods instead of me..

and what God is saying..

Is it has ruined our intimacy, our passionate realtionship..

It is spoiled..

good for nothings..

Gods Desires

and then in verse 11 we see gods desire for his people.. a

and his desire for us..

Jeremiah 13:11 ESV

For as the loincloth clings to the waist of a man, so I made the whole house of Israel and the whole house of Judah cling to me, declares the Lord, that they might be for me a people, a name, a praise, and a glory, but they would not listen.

God says, I made them.. to cling to me like the lion cloth..

You get the picture?

God is saying.. I made them to be close..

To be passionate and intimate with me..

that they may be a people know as my people.. my name..

and give me praise and glory…

God desire for all of his people.. is intimate relationship..

We were made for intimate relationship

Garden

you remember in genesis when God created the earth..

and he created the garden..

and then he personally and intentionally created man and, like nothing else on the earth, breathed his own breath into man?

Ask: “What happened next?”

Genesis 3:8 ESV

And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden.

God came and walked with his creation..

He was among them..

Tabernacle

You remember the tabernacle moses made?

Ask: Do you know the purpose, though there are many?

Exodus 25:8 ESV

And let them make me a sanctuary, that I may dwell in their midst.

God desires to be close to his people..

Jesus

Jesus in the new testament..

Was approached by a lawyer and he asked Jesus..

Whats the most important commandment?

Ask: Do you know what Jesus said?

Matthew 22:37 ESV

And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.

Jesus said those three things because that was considered to be the entirety of the person..

The heart, the soul, and the mind..

Jesus was saying.. Love god with all you are..

Intimacy..

Eternity

Ask: Do you know what eternity is about?

Paul tells us about the rapture..

1 Thessalonians 4:17 ESV

Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord.

John writes about heaven..

Revelation 21:23 ESV

And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb.

Eternity is never ending intimate relationship with God..

It is the ultimate restoration of creation as God intended it to be in the garden..

Its about intimacy..

Now

James 4:8 ESV

Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.

Jeremiah 29:13 ESV

You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart.

Matthew 7:7 ESV

“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.

God invites us all throughout the scriptures into a MORE PASSIONATE RELATIONSHIP WITH HIM..

HE WANTS TO REVEAL HIMSELF TO US IN A DEEPER WAY

AND HE WANTS US TO KNOW HIM IN A DEEPER WAY..

Are we/ How Can we

Our Reality

Ask: “Don’t answer this outloud, but is that the kind of relationship you have with god?”

one where you are regularly looking for more of him?

Answer: The answer most likely is no.. because its not most peoples..

Busy

we live in a culture that is constantly buy..

going about our day..

doing our own things..

seeking out our own desires..

and most of us know we should be pursuing god more..

but we always say the same thing..

when I get some time God I will..

and so we dont..

FIll

we fill our day with work, friends, netflixs, social media, emergencies and more..

but we neglect to make time for more of God..

When god is regularly inviting us to the table to have a deeper relationship with us..

How can we have more?

Ask: So I want to ask you tonight. How can we have more with God?

Ask: What are somethings we can do to go deeper with God?

Potential Answers:

Make time

Pray

Study

Some to small group or church

Serve

Love people

The reality is.. this isn't the first time we have heard this..

we know God wants more..

and in our business it can be daunting to try to make such a drastic change over night..

so how do we change?

Potential Answer: Little by Little

End

The most important thing is not that we get every thing in order today..

its that we make the decision to start moving closer to god..

As we end tonight..

I want you to takeout your phone..

open the notes app..

and write one thing.. your going to serisouly do to move closer to god..

then I want you to put a reminder for tomorrow on it and make it happen.