The God of Action

Intro

(God Loves you Video)

Before when I preached on the essence of God, I explained what exactly Genuine Love meant. Today I want to expand on that topic. Cause as we read through the bible we see some amazing stories of God moving and being Active. And that is precisely what genuine love is, showing love through action rather than just through our words.

How many of you have a daughter? you may be able to relate to this story.

A girl and her mother did not “mix.” The daughter chose a typical teenage solution to the problem—silence. She would leave for school in the morning, come home to eat, then leave again. When she was finally home late at night, she read books. Invariably, her mother would come downstairs and ask me if she wanted a sandwich. she grunted her assent. The mother cooked egg and bacon sandwiches for her night after night until the daughter left home for good. Years later, when their relationship was mended, the mother told the daughter why she had made all those sandwiches. she said, “If you would ever talk to me, it was while I made that sandwich.” “I’ve learned love is found in a consistent display of interest, commitment, sacrifice, and attention.”

God, throughout all of time, has consistently displayed his interest and commitment to us through sacrifice and attention.

God Acts in the OT

OT Stories of God Answering Prayers

Many times when we see God act through the Old Testament it is in response to prayer. One of my favorite stories is the story of Hezekiah. One of the reasons I like Hezekiah is because people don’t really talk much about who he was.

Now if you remember I’ve mentioned him in my past sermon, “the problem with Idols”. He was the king of Judah who, once he became king destroyed the bronze serpent that the people of Israel began worshiping, because they felt that the serpent itself was healing them rather than God. So we know that he is a good King of fears God.

In fact 2 Kings 18:5-6

2 Kings 18:5–6 ESV

5 He trusted in the Lord, the God of Israel, so that there was none like him among all the kings of Judah after him, nor among those who were before him. 6 For he held fast to the Lord. He did not depart from following him, but kept the commandments that the Lord commanded Moses.

So Hezekiah was a great king who ruled over Judah. However the King of Assyriah, Sennacherib, wanted to take over Judah, so he took all the fortified cities of Judah and sent his chief officer to Jerusalem and threatened the people, challenging their faith. asking them why they think their God is different from the gods of every other nation that they have conquered. When these words reached Hezekiah he went before the Lord and prayed 2 Kings 19:15-19

2 Kings 19:15–19 ESV

15 And Hezekiah prayed before the Lord and said: “O Lord, the God of Israel, enthroned above the cherubim, you are the God, you alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth; you have made heaven and earth. 16 Incline your ear, O Lord, and hear; open your eyes, O Lord, and see; and hear the words of Sennacherib, which he has sent to mock the living God. 17 Truly, O Lord, the kings of Assyria have laid waste the nations and their lands 18 and have cast their gods into the fire, for they were not gods, but the work of men’s hands, wood and stone. Therefore they were destroyed. 19 So now, O Lord our God, save us, please, from his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you, O Lord, are God alone.”

And we serve an active God who answers prayers in many different ways, and this way in particular was pretty awesome.

2 Kings 19:35–37 ESV

35 And that night the angel of the Lord went out and struck down 185,000 in the camp of the Assyrians. And when people arose early in the morning, behold, these were all dead bodies. 36 Then Sennacherib king of Assyria departed and went home and lived at Nineveh. 37 And as he was worshiping in the house of Nisroch his god, Adrammelech and Sharezer, his sons, struck him down with the sword and escaped into the land of Ararat. And Esarhaddon his son reigned in his place.

When Hezekiah needed God he Humbly put himself before him asking that God take action on his behalf, and God answered.

God Appearing in the OT

It’s awesome when we see God appear when he really shows up. But when he shows up it’s not always how we may expect him to. Let’s look at the story of Elijah for example.

1 Kings 19:9–12 ESV

9 There he came to a cave and lodged in it. And behold, the word of the Lord came to him, and he said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” 10 He said, “I have been very jealous for the Lord, the God of hosts. For the people of Israel have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword, and I, even I only, am left, and they seek my life, to take it away.” 11 And he said, “Go out and stand on the mount before the Lord.” And behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind tore the mountains and broke in pieces the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. And after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. 12 And after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire the sound of a low whisper.

Elijah was in distress and was looking for God to appear to him, and he looked for God in the Wind, but didn’t find him, he looked for God in the Earthquake but again he wasn’t there, and yet again he looked for him in the fire, but again he wasn’t in the fire, But God appeared to Elijah with a whisper. It was by his word that he came to him.

God reveals himself throughout the Old Testament in so many ways. And a lot of times it is in these big flashy ways, but this story makes the point that yes God does reveal himself in those big flashy ways, but he also reveals himself in very subtle ways. We just need to keep our eyes and mind focused to recognize how he appears to us. And it’s interesting to see the differences in how God interacts with people in the Old Testament compared to the New Testament.

God Acts in the NT

NT Stories of God Answering Prayers and Appearing

There were many instances throughout the new testament where either Jesus the apostles or the church was praying for someone or something. And just like the Old Testament God answered those prayers. One of my favorite stories is when the church prayed for Peter when he was thrown in prison by Herod.

Acts 12:1–17 (ESV)

1 About that time Herod the king laid violent hands on some who belonged to the church. 2 He killed James the brother of John with the sword, 3 and when he saw that it pleased the Jews, he proceeded to arrest Peter also. This was during the days of Unleavened Bread. 4 And when he had seized him, he put him in prison, delivering him over to four squads of soldiers to guard him, intending after the Passover to bring him out to the people. 5 So Peter was kept in prison, but earnest prayer for him was made to God by the church.

(Isn’t it crazy that Herod assigned 4 squads to watch peter, a squad would typically have 7-14 people, so even if each squad only had 7 people thats 28 soldiers for one guy.)

6 Now when Herod was about to bring him out, on that very night, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains, and sentries before the door were guarding the prison. 7 And behold, an angel of the Lord stood next to him, and a light shone in the cell. He struck Peter on the side and woke him, saying, “Get up quickly.” And the chains fell off his hands. 8 And the angel said to him, “Dress yourself and put on your sandals.” And he did so. And he said to him, “Wrap your cloak around you and follow me.” 9 And he went out and followed him. He did not know that what was being done by the angel was real, but thought he was seeing a vision. 10 When they had passed the first and the second guard, they came to the iron gate leading into the city. It opened for them of its own accord, and they went out and went along one street, and immediately the angel left him. 11 When Peter came to himself, he said, “Now I am sure that the Lord has sent his angel and rescued me from the hand of Herod and from all that the Jewish people were expecting.”

12 When he realized this, he went to the house of Mary, the mother of John whose other name was Mark, where many were gathered together and were praying. 13 And when he knocked at the door of the gateway, a servant girl named Rhoda came to answer. 14 Recognizing Peter’s voice, in her joy she did not open the gate but ran in and reported that Peter was standing at the gate. 15 They said to her, “You are out of your mind.” But she kept insisting that it was so, and they kept saying, “It is his angel!” 16 But Peter continued knocking, and when they opened, they saw him and were amazed. 17 But motioning to them with his hand to be silent, he described to them how the Lord had brought him out of the prison. And he said, “Tell these things to James and to the brothers.” Then he departed and went to another place.

Now i know we’re reading quite a bit today but i want us to have these stories in mind as we move forward because these are different examples of how our God is alive and Active.

John 3:16 tells us, and hopefully you don’t even need to open your bible for this one but have it memorized. does anyone know it?

John 3:16 ESV

16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

God has already went out of his way, time and time again, to rescue us, and on top of that, he came in the flesh to suffer and die for our sins so that we can have everlasting life. My Young Adult Bible Study wen’t to the movies on Thursday to see the Chosen Christmas Special, has anyone gone to see it yet?

If you haven’t I really do recommend it, it’s showing in all AMC movie theatres, like the one in Williamsport, at 7pm, and they have showings everyday until this Friday the 10th.

But one of the things that really grabbed my attention when watching it, was the birth itself of Jesus. Seeing Mary hold him as an infant. He set aside his Glory to come to us in a fragile body that would face temptation, that would face emotional pain, that would face physical abuse, all for the sake, of having a personal relationship with us.

When I say we serve a God of Action, I’m saying we serve a God who was willing to sacrifice it all for any individual that would come to believe in him. And now, that same God, has defeated death and intercedes for us to the father. so that we don’t have to worry about being perfect because he is perfect.

God Acts Today

God Answers Prayer Today

So, some of us ask the question. If God is real, if Christ really did all of the things that the Gospel said he did, then why can’t I see him, or why should I pray when there is no answer. Maybe it’s difficult for you to see God as an active God because you struggle to see him being alive and active.

To Start i’d like to make the point that we aren’t necessarily going to take notice to God if we aren’t looking for him. for example when you are standing under a tree for shade, you don’t always think “Wow God thanks for this tree that you created to give me shade.” or when you get thirsty and you can get clean water simply by walking to the sink and turning on the faucet, we can do that because God has greatly blessed this country. We don’t even give common grace, the things that God provides to both believers and unbelievers, a second thought. So I recommend that you begin your walk to recognize that God is a living God by noticing the small things.

And sometimes when we pray we ignore the true answers to our prayers, because we are expecting the big flashy responses like the answer to Hezekiah’s prayer. but instead we get something completely different. And we should never overlook the way God influences people, and the way he uses them.

One afternoon while playing on a wooden picnic table, 4 1/2-year-old Jordon ran a splinter into his finger. Sobbing, he called his father at the office. “I want God to take the splinter out,” he said.

The father told him his mother could remove it very easily. But he wanted God to do it because when Mom takes a splinter out, it hurts. He wanted God to remove it “by himself.”

When the boys dad got home an hour later, the splinter was still there so he proceeded to remove it, and he tried to teach Jordon that sometimes God uses others to do his work. And sometimes it is painful.

The boy wanted God to take the splinter out but God had different plans. Gods not always going to show up and make everything go away in an instant. The pain we go through is necessary, and just because he doesn’t make it go away doesn’t make him absent it makes us learn to rely on him. Have you ever gone through a time in your life when you wondered if God was truly there, if he truly cared for you. I know I have, and regardless of how hard it got, i always came out on top with a stronger relationship with Christ.

When we pray God acts, and it may not always be how we expect, we are looking for him in the wind, earthquakes, and fires, and we fail to listen to his word (Hold up the bible). This isn’t to say that God doesn’t answer prayers in big ways today cause he does.

One story I’ve read was about a family who intended to visit their family in Guatemala

“My family and I live in Guatemala. A few years ago we were praying that God would help us get to the States to visit my parents as it had been quite a few years since our last visit.

There was no way we could afford a trip for a family of four on our own, so we needed divine intervention. We prayed for months and had just about given up a month before the planned trip.

We’d had our cell group praying as well, but we assumed that it wasn’t God’s timing. With sadness, I informed my parents that we wouldn’t be able to make it that year.

Then, within a matter of two weeks, three people contacted me and said that God had prompted them to give us money. Altogether the amount came to exactly what we’d needed! Unbeknownst to us, God had been working the whole time to make the trip happen.”

Conclusion

God is active even today, he doesn’t leave us on our own, and he has done something for us that was far greater than sending an angel to slay the asserians, and even greater than rescuing Peter from 4 squads of soldiers who were guarding his prison sell. He sent his son to go through the same pain that we deal with everyday, so that we are not alone. Every time we cry out to Jesus he personally knows the pain we’re going through. Sometimes we look for divine intervention and when we don’t see God in the winds, earthquakes, and fires, we give up on watching for him.

When we pray how do we end our prayers? what’s the very last word we say? “Amen” that is a Hebrew word which translates to “truly”, “Surely”, but my favorite translation is “let it be so” so as way pray through Christ our mediator, we say “In the name of Jesus Christ, Let it be so” We say this because we serve an active God that we trust to work on behalf of his people. that when we cry out to him he will answer, even if that answer comes in a whisper. So as you pray as you look for God in the world, take the time to notice the little thing, and greatly rejoice in the big things.

Let’s Pray.