Next: Friendship with God

Introduction

SMART PHONE ILLUSTRATION- CONNECT WELL AND MAKE FUN

THE WORD OF GOD IS OUR APP, SIRI IS OUR HS. IF YOU ARE IN CHRIST YOU CAME HARD WIRED WITH YOUR DIVINE SIRI CALLED THE HS!

CREATING THE NEED

TODAY WE LAUNCH OUT ON A JOURNEY TOGETHER ON THE WILL OF GOD…A SERIES CALLED NEXT: FIGURING OUT WHAT GOD WANTS FOR MY LIFE. ALL OF US IN THIS ROOM HAVE WONDERED WHAT’S NEXT.

APPLICATIONS: COLLEGE STUDENTS WONDERING WHAT SHOULD I MAJOR IN? WHEN I GRADUATE DO I GO ON FOR MORE SCHOOL OR JUMP RIGHT INTO MY CAREER? IN A RELATIONSHIP WONDERING IS HE THE ONE I’M SUPPOSED TO SPEND THE REST OF MY LIFE WITH? IN YOUR CAREER YOU’RE WONDERING DO I MOVE OUT OF STATE TO TAKE THAT JOB? ON THE ONE HAND THAT’S THE ONLY WAY I CAN MOVE UP, ON THE OTHER HAND YOU’RE GOING BUT I REALLY FEEL CALLED TO THIS PLACE AND HAVE A PROFOUND SENSE OF COMMUNITY? WHAT’S NEXT? MARRIED FOLK WONDERING DO WE ADOPT OR DO WE HAVE ANOTHER KID BIOLOGICALLY, OR IS MY QUIVER FULL- SHE SAYS YES, HE’S LIKE WE ARE THUUU…WHAT’S NEXT?

THIS SERIES WILL GIVE YOU AN EXACT FRAMEWORK FOR HOW TO DISCERN GOD’S WILL FOR YOUR LIFE. LET’S GO ON THIS JOURNEY TOGETHER. SO WHERE DO WE BEGIN?

FRIENDSHIP WITH GOD:

OUR PASSAGE CANNOT BE UNDERSTOOD WITHOUT THE EVENTS OF CHAPTER NINE BECAUSE OUR PASSAGE IS JESUS’ RESPONSE TO WHAT HAS JUST TRANSPIRED…SYNOPSIS: BLIND MAN IS HEALED, AND JESUS HAS THE AUDACITY TO HEAL HIM ON THE SABBATH TO THE IRE OF THE RELIGIOUS LEADERS. THEY ARE SO APPALLED THAT THEY THROW HIM OUT OF THE SYNAGOGUE, OSTRACIZING HIM FROM THE COMMUNITY. NOW JESUS RESPONDS AND IN HIS RESPONSE HE’S BOTH TOUGH AND TENDER. HE’S TOUGH ON THE RELIGIOUS LEADERS WHO THREW HIM OUT CALLING THEM HIRED HANDS. YET HE’S TENDER WITH THE BLIND MAN IMPLYING THAT HE’S HIS SHEEP AND JESUS IS HIS GOOD SHEPHERD WHO HE WILL LAY DOWN HIS LIFE FOR. TOUGH AND TENDER. THAT’S A GOOD PARADIGM FOR HOW WE ARE TO BE...

JESUS USES TWO METAPHORS- I AM THE DOOR (7). THIS IS SALVATION AND HIS EXCLUSIVE CLAIM…BUT ONCE YOU’RE IN YOU NOW HAVE A GOOD SHEPHERD (11) WHO LOVES AND LEADS AND GUIDES YOU. WHO WANTS THE DEEPEST MOST INTIMATE RELATIONSHIP WITH YOU. IN FACT IT IS THIS IMAGE OF JESUS BEING THE GOOD SHEPHERD THAT IS THE MOST PREDOMINATE IMAGE IN OUR TEXT…THE GREAT TRAGEDY OF SO MANY BELIEVERS IS THEY KNOW CHRIST AS THE DOOR HAVING ENTERED INTO SALVATION, THEY JUST DON’T KNOW CHRIST AS THE GOOD SHEPHERD…THEY DON’T HAVE A RELATIONSHIP WITH HIM, NO DAY TO DAY FRIENDSHIP OR INTIMACY WITH HIM. IT’S SORT OF LIKE SO MANY COUPLES WHO HAVE A GREAT WEDDING DAY BUT A MEDIOCRE TO BAD MARRIAGE. NO INTIMACY OR CONNECTION. JESUS WANTS TO BE YOUR SHEPHERD…HE WANTS AN INTIMATE RELATIONSHIP WTIH YOU- . AND THIS IS THE STARTING PLACE TO NEXT: FIGURING OUT GOD’S WILL FOR YOUR LIFE…THE WHOLE FRAMEWORK IS FRIENDSHIP WITH GOD.

YES THIS TEXT IS ALL ABOUT SALVATION, BUT IT’S SO MUCH MORE. SALVATION IS NOT JUST A FINISH LINE, BUT A STARTING LINE. IT’S A LIFE TIME OF INTIMATE, DAILY FOLLOWERSHIP OF JESUS, FRIENDSHIP WITH JESUS. THAT’S WHY THE SHEPHERD METAPHOR IS THE PREDOMINATE ONE. SHEPHERDS BEGAN YOUNG AND OVER TIME DEVELOPED RELATIONSHIP WITH THE SHEEP. THEY EVEN NAMED THEM. THE BIBLE SAYS OUR NAMES ARE ENGRAVED ON THE PALMS OF GOD. THEY ALWAYS COMMUNICATED (VOICE)…LOOK AT VERSES 3-4. HOW IN ANTIQUITY SEVERAL FLOCKS COULD BE IN A CAVE AND WHEN IT WAS TIME FOR ONE OF THE FLOCKS TO LEAVE THE SHEPHERD WOULD JUST CALL AND THEY WOULD LEAVE, ONLY THAT FLOCK. WOW! THEY KNEW HIS VOICE. JESUS USES THAT OF HIM. HE SAYS WHEN I SPEAKK YOU’LL KNOW, WHY? BECAUSE WE’VE BEEN IN FRIENDSHIP AND FELLOWSHIP WITH EACH OTHER.

WILLARD QUOTE- PAGES 12, 35 STITCHED TOGETHER.

APPLICATION: SOME OF YOU ARE WEIRDED OUT BY THIS, THAT WE CAN ACTUALLY HEAR THE VOICE OF GOD AND HE CAN SPEAK TO US GUIDING US AS TO WHAT SCHOOL TO GO TO AND THE LIKE…IT’S IMPORTANT NOT TO INTERPRET THE BIBLE THROUGH OUR EXPERIENCE OR OUR LACK THEREOF AS JACK DEERE SAYS IN HIS BOOK…SO LET’S LOOK AT THE SCRIPTURES: GOD SPEAKS TO EVERY KIND OF PERSON IN THE BIBLE: BUSINESSMEN LIKE ABRAHAM AND DANIEL; PARENTS LIKE SAMSONS; AND NOBODIES LIKE MARY. GOD SPEAKS. IN FACT THE BIBLE SAYS IN I KINGS THAT GOD SPOKE TO ELIJAH IN A STILL SMALL VOICE. HE SPEAKS! AND TODAY GOD SPEAKS TO BELIEVERS THROUGH THE HS: . THE BIBLE IS NOT ENOUGH.

FISHING/GUIDE ILLUSTRATION.

HOW DO YOU KNOW IT’S GOD’S VOICE AND NOT SATAN, OR THE PIZZA I HAD LAST NIGHT? ONE WORD- WEIGHTINESS. GOD SPEAKING TO ME AT MOUNT HERMON.

VISUAL. GOD DOESN’T HAVE A SPEECH PROBLEM, WE JUST HAVE A HEARING PROBLEM. BRING SEVERAL PEOPLE UP. I STAND BEHIND THE ONE IN THE MIDDLE TRYING TO HEAR. OTHERS ARE FACING HER. ONE TALKING ON THE PHONE. THE OTHER CONDEMNING- YOU CAN’T YOU CAN’T. THE OTHER BEING SKEPTICAL- ARE YOU SURE, ARE YOU SURE. THE OTHER SINGING SOME KIND OF MUSIC SHE LIKES. AND THEN THERE’S ME TALKING, MOUTHING AT FIRST…WHEN I TAP THEIR SHOULDERS THEY TURN DOWN THE VOLUME AND NOW THEY CAN BEGIN TO HEAR ME. WE HAVE TO GET INTO A POSITION TO HEAR. WELL HOW? COME BACK NEXT WEEK.

Protection- Verse 7

HOW DOES JESUS PROTECT US AS OUR SHEPHERD? TWO WAYS:

HE IS THE DOOR. SHEEPFOLDS HAD OPEN DOORWAYS…PREDATORS ALL AROUND AT NIGHT, THE SHEPHERD WOULD LITERALLY LAY DOWN IN THE DOORWAY PUTTING HIMSELF IN HARMS WAY. THIS IS WHAT JESUS DID FOR US ON THE CROSS…HE PUT HIMSELF IN HARMS WAY FOR US! GREATER LOVE HAS NO MAN THAN THIS THAN A MAN LAY DOWN HIS LIFE FOR HIS FRIENDS!

THROUGH CIRCUMSTANCES. SHEPHERDS WITH SLINGSHOTS COULD HIT A HAIR FROM A FAR DISTANCE. SOME TIMES TO GET THE SHEEPS ATTENTION WHO WAS WANDERING THEY’D THROW A STONE AN INCH OR TWO BEYOND THE NOSE OF THE SHEEP, STARTLING THEM, CATCHING THEIR ATTENTION BY THE DANGER AND LEADING THEM BACK. SOME TIMES WE HAVE TO BE STARTLED!

WILLARD ILLUSTRATION ON PAGE 84

APPLICATIONS- WHILE SOMEONE HERE WAS WRESTLING WITH WHETHER OR NOT YOU SHOULD MARRY THEM GOD THROUGH A STONE AND STARTLED YOU LETTING THEM CHEAT ON YOU SO YOU COULD SEE THEY WEREN’T THE ONE. WHILE SOME OF YOU WERE WONDERING WHETHER OR NOT YOU SHOULD QUIT YOUR JOB TO PURSUE SOMETHING ELSE, GOD THREW A STONE AND STARTLED YOU AND HAD AN INCREDIBLE OFFER COME YOUR WAY OUT OF THE BLUE THAT YOU WEREN’T EVEN THINKING ABOUT…HE THREW A STONE. SOME OF YOU WERE IN THE EARLY STAGES OF YOUR SIN WHEN GOD THREW A STONE AND STARTLED YOU AND GRACIOUSLY LET YOU GET CAUGHT BEFORE IT ESCALATED, PROTECTING YOU FROM YEARS OF HEARTACHE AND ADDICTION. ANYBODY GLAD FOR THE GOD WHO THREW STONES AT US FROM TIME TO TIME NOT TO HURT US BUT TO PROTECT US!

Freedom- Verse 3

SOME OF US HAVE AN ALLERGIC REACTION TO THE VOICE OF GOD BECAUSE WE THINK GOD’S GOING TO TELL US WHAT WE DON’T WANT TO DO. WE THINK GOD IS GOING TO RESTRICT OR CONFINE US KEEPING US FROM A LIFE OF FUN. AND WE PROBABLY GOT THAT FROM OUR PARENTS. I USED TO THINK MY PARENTS SAID NO JUST TO MAKE MY LIFE MISERABLE, WHEN IN HINDSIGHT THERE NO WAS OFTEN TIMES FOR MY FREEDOM.

GOD’S VOICE LEADS TO FREEDOM LOOK AT VERSE 3. THEY GO FROM A CONFINE SPACE TO A WIDE OPEN SPACE STILL UNDER THE CARE OF THE SHEPHERD. HE’S FOR THEIR FREEDOM.

AIRPLANE ILLUSTRATION AND HOW IMPATIENT I AM. BUT I’M PATIENT WHEN IT COMES TO PLANES. VOICE OF THE PILOT SAYING WE’RE HAVING MECHANICAL ISSUES AND PEOPLE GO CRAZY…ME I’M GOOD, TAKE ALL DAY. HIS VOICE IS NOT FOR MY IRRITATION BUT FOR MY FREEDOM. NO OR NOT NOW CAN BE THE MOST FREEING WORDS EVER. THE VOICE OF GOD IS FOR OUR FREEDOM.

RANDY ILLUSTRATION.

Abundance/Prosperity- Verse 10

CONTRAST BIOS WITH ZOE…A QUALITY KIND OF LIFE THAT COMES WITH HEARING AND OBEYING THE VOICE OF GOD. GOSPEL MOMENT- TOO MANY PEOPLE HAVE BIOS AND NOT ZOE.

ADAM AND EVE EXAMPLE. YOU CAN EAT FROM ALL THESE TREES (ORANGES, APPLES, ETC), ENJOY ALL THIS ABUNDANCE, BUT NOT THIS ONE. WHEN THEY DID THEY LOST THE ABUNDANCE AND DEATH AND DESTRUCTION CAME IN. BECAUSE THEY DIDN’T LISTEN TO THE VOICE OF GOD.

JOSH GORDON ILLUSTRATION…LITERALLY LOST OUT ON MILLIONS BECAUSE HE LISTENED TO HIS VOICE AND NOT GODS.

Gospel Conclusion (Do the work of an evangelist)

GOD HAS SO MUCH MORE FOR YOU…YOU KNOW SOMETHING’S MISSING

EXCLUSIVITY OF JESUS HE IS THE DOOR;

CARE OF JESUS, HE IS THE ONE WHO LAYS DOWN HIS LIFE

WWI STORY

INVITATION