Hear, Do, Speak: God's voice becomes basic

God’s Voice and presence in History

Garden: Ubiquitous

East of Eden: Sparse

Abraham, Noah, Moses: Like a spare narrator, just to move the story along

Tabernacle, first temple: Sporadic

Exile: All the time

2nd Temple: Almost none

Pentecost/Kingdom Age: Everywhere

Priests;Mediate: God to men and Men to God

two weeks ago we talked about how we pray with authority and power because we are priests with the spirit’s presence.

It was not only priests who heard God’s voice and spoke before the people…there were lay prophets who were not priests: Amos, Elisha, Daniel,

And prophets who were priests: Ezekiel, Jeremiah, Samuel, Zephaniah,

and the prophets who were priests (more often than not)....it was their vocation, this made then pay attention....

My father in law and road hazards

My dad and houses

Me and design

Malia and hearing issues

We notice what we pay attention to.

This is why we are talking about our vocation as priests, our primary calling and identity vocationally is this role....be God’s people who mediate between God and creation.

Today we’re talking about the priestly role of prophet, one who hears GOd’s voice in what is called an oracle and speaks it to the people.....make sure that everyone heard it.

WEEK 2 RECAP:

Illustrate with story of town herald....good or bad news, people just have to know. Prophet didn’t just hear…but they did 3 things with it:

Interpreted it:

Lived it out as a prophetic example: Hosea marries a prostitute to make a point, John the Baptist—sackcloth, locusts, honey, wild man

Proclaimed what God said: Jonah in Ninevah…preach God’s warning

God’s warning is about his grace. Capricious father gives no warning.

Loving father gives lots of warning

This was a bit about the passage we read from Joel today.

-this radical renewal through repentance that brings an outpouring of God’s spirit.

-God’s Voice, people change, and God’s Spirit is poured out on his people

-This is a telling of the beginning of the kingdom age.

-Acts 2 14-21

Acts 2:14–21 NLT

Then Peter stepped forward with the eleven other apostles and shouted to the crowd, “Listen carefully, all of you, fellow Jews and residents of Jerusalem! Make no mistake about this. These people are not drunk, as some of you are assuming. Nine o’clock in the morning is much too early for that. No, what you see was predicted long ago by the prophet Joel: ‘In the last days,’ God says, ‘I will pour out my Spirit upon all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy. Your young men will see visions, and your old men will dream dreams. In those days I will pour out my Spirit even on my servants—men and women alike— and they will prophesy. And I will cause wonders in the heavens above and signs on the earth below— blood and fire and clouds of smoke. The sun will become dark, and the moon will turn blood red before that great and glorious day of the Lord arrives. But everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’

Peter is seeing this fulfilled in Pentecost:

Good News proclaimed out loud

In the language of the people.

This is the new reality of the age of God’s kingdom

Primary Message: Kingdom has come in Jesus’s reign over death

Supernaturally normal

Available to all sons and daughters of the king

Priestly prophets

We see in the NT epistles lots and lots of God revealing himself more completely as the Spirit brings revelation: Paul in Ephesians, the Apostles, Words of knowledge, prophecy, Visions (Paul and Macedonian)

This is what it should look like as we live as priests in the kingdom age,

We hear from God, and do and say what he says.

John 12:45–50 NLT

For when you see me, you are seeing the one who sent me. I have come as a light to shine in this dark world, so that all who put their trust in me will no longer remain in the dark. I will not judge those who hear me but don’t obey me, for I have come to save the world and not to judge it. But all who reject me and my message will be judged on the day of judgment by the truth I have spoken. I don’t speak on my own authority. The Father who sent me has commanded me what to say and how to say it. And I know his commands lead to eternal life; so I say whatever the Father tells me to say.”

We are learning the way of Jesus, as a community to be a blessing to our city.

But we can’t learn things we don’t know.

take a second, think through your blind spots.

jk

We can’t grow without others

-different perspectives

-new content

-application

We can’t learn the way of Jesus without following Jesus and knowing what He did.

Jesus heard the Father and did what the Father said.

How?

So?

What does it sound like?

-not about a special word, but rather ordinary words

It’s about obedience....staying deeply connected with the Father

Hearing and doing.

What does God’s voice sound like?

-we have to be quiet to hear it

-we have to be open to hear it

-we have to be obedient if we want to hear more

-blockage from Sin

-confession/repentance

-Repent and believe

what is not God’s voice? Need to be trained to hear it: I know my kids cries, my kids know my voice

-scripture

-kind of message

-Jesus is the true north

Good father vs the evil one.

-encouraging, loving, conviction without shame

-like Jesus (everything that is true of Jesus is true of the Father)

-no condemnation

-no accusation

-no name calling

-alignment with scripture

-serves others

-identity

-strict dad protecting his kids

Never sanding or abusive

For us

Particular

Not about our greatness

Directions

Appropot

Timely

Evangelism

Warning

Abiding

Warnings:

Delusions of Grandeur

judgment for your enemies or rivals

Things that are evil

Lead to destruction

Truth is found in Spiritual Community (Reflection and Discusion)

“IN the days of the Kingdom, God's Spirit is poured out generously on all who desire God.

His Voice Sounds like good news in a language we can understand.”

Lets take a minute:

-Sin we need to repent

-things we need to obey

-shaping our lives for silence and solitude