G.p.s. Series

Learn to Drive Series - Part 2

GPS

Last week I talked about taking charge of your life

by picking the make and model of your ride,

getting a good battery which is salvation,

some fuel which is Bible study,

a G.P.S. Good Prayer Said,

and a Navigator which is God.

Many of you came forward last week

and you committed to take charge of your lives.

You committed to learn to drive in 2005

by putting these driving instructions into practice.

When you made a public profession

of your decision,

I gave you a token

to help remind you of this commitment.

Have you thought about that commitment

during this past week?

Has God showed you anything in your life

that needs to change, improve, or get rid of?

I pray that you will follow His leading

and give up whatever it takes to lighten your load

and make your journey easier and faster.

If you missed the message,

then get the video, watch it, make your decision,

then come to me and I’ll give you a special token

to help you remember your commitment.

I learned this past week

that only preachers think that GPS means

Good Prayer Said.

You all probably know that GPS is a tool

that is sometimes used

when you drive an automobile.

Some of you sport fanatics may use a GPS

to find that certain great fishing spot again,

or you may use it to find your way

as you hike or bike in the mountains.

For those of you who don’t really know

what a GPS is,

let me explain to you what I have learned.

It stands for Global Positioning System

or Global Positioning Satellite.

What it does, is to help you know

exactly where you are during your journey.

When most of us get in the car to drive,

we know where we are going.

We have a destination,

and if we’ve been there several times in the past,

we’re comfortable with our trip

and don’t even have to think about directions

as we travel there.

But if we’re going someplace new,

the trip takes more thought and more preparation.

ILL. I use to be able to tell you which direction

North, South East and West was,

I NEVER got lost

even when I had never been there before.

But when I turned about 30 yrs. old,

everything changed,

and I became directionally challenged.

Anyone here directionally challenged?

I know Joe is.

The other day one of his buddies

told him that he would take him fishing,

but he would have to blind fold him

so he couldn’t tell anyone

about his special fishing hole.

Joe has my same direction problem

and assured him that if he tried to find the same spot

he would probably end up in some other pond.

Some people have a terrible sense of direction,

it takes very little for them to get lost.

That’s when a GPS comes in handy.

If they become lost,

the GPS will tell them where they are,

then they can take that information,

and find out how to get to where they want to go.

But if you don’t know where you are,

it’s hard to know which way is the right way.

Have you ever heard,

“You can’t get there from here”?

Well, I’m here to tell you,

if your goal is to get closer to God,

You CAN get there from here

no matter where you are in your spiritual journey.

I wanted to help you to drive closer to God,

so we have created a GPS to help you get there!

Here is New Hope’s

“Guidance Positioning System”.

It’s designed to help you know

if you are headed in the right direction,

and at what speed you are traveling.

It will also benefit me as your Pastor,

to be able to see where the majority of you are,

or if someone gets stuck

and might need to be towed!

As we go through these levels of spiritual growth,

I want you to determine where you are

you’ll need this for a test at the end of this message.

On the right hand side,

you see the Different levels of spiritual growth.

The very first level, of course, is 1. Salvation.

Last week I explained to you,

that you can’t even start your car without a battery,

and salvation is your battery.

Those of you who are already saved,

need to pay close attention to what I’m saying because it will help you witness to others.

The first requirement of salvation is believing.

Our whole relationship with our Creator

is based on faith——on believing.

Acts 16:31 says, “Believe in the Lord Jesus,

and you WILL be saved.”

I have people who I’m witnessing to

that do believe in Christ