Sermon Central
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The Spirit Leads Us Series
Contributed by Brad Bailey on Aug 9, 2004 (message contributor)
Summary: Looking at the Spirit’s leading in our lives and how to live by the Spirit.
Intro – My wife and I are now ‘expecting the unexpected’… pregnant with our fourth child
> Once again pondering the mystery and magnitude of such life being conceived within… I’m reminded that we all have a new life
> “What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.”
The Holy Spirit…
Big picture - Unlike any religious system of thought… where man has developed myths to codify morality…. We are gathering to worship a God for whom revelation has been
Made in the very time and space of history… beginning with Abraham…
Discover one God manifest in three-persons… mystery… but a mystery that fulfills what deep down the human soul longs for
Father… establishes… calls us out… all becoming clear in our often fatherless times.
Son… meets me in my flaws and failures… bears the shame and consequences.. provides eternal life
Holy Spirit… not left as orphans…empowering presence… new work
Lead us…
BEING LED BY SPIRIT IS LIKE FLYING BY INSTRUMENTS
Shortly after John F. Kennedy Jr., his wife and an-other passenger died when he lost his bearings and flew his private plane into the Atlantic Ocean, the Chicago Tribune ran an article about flying. In it, amateur pilot Stephen Hedges writes about the difficulty of flying a plane by instruments alone. It’s a necessary skill if you want to survive while flying at night or in fog. Without the ability to fly by instruments the pilot will fall into an uncontrolled bank and crash.
During one instrument lesson, Hedges noted, "I flew the headings and turns as instructed, but even with 10 hours of instrument flying experience already in my log-book, I was amazed at how quickly the plane slid into a banking turn if I diverted my attention for just a few moments. The first time it happened, panic shot through me, a momentary fear that made it even more difficult to comprehend what the plane was doing."
But when he heard his instructor next to him calmly say, "Watch your instruments," he quickly leveled the plane.
Many times life forces us to fly in the fog or in the dark, when we can’t seem to get our bearings, we can’t see the horizon and can’t figure out how to fly straight and level.
We need an inner connection to reality…
Spirit serves such a role…
And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.
If we are living now by the Holy Spirit, let us follow the Holy Spirit’s leading in every part of our lives.
God is spirit… we have a spirit within us.
· As such … ‘the Spirit bears witness to our spirit”… guiding peace.
· Hearing… generally an inner voice… just as we can hear your own thoughts… except it speaks into your mind… clearly not formed by it.
· May be a word… image…
> Couple weeks consider how to discern the Spirit speaking to us… today affirm that indeed he does lead… and some foundations for enjoying that process.
Foundations for a Spirit Lead Life
1. Ongoing Expectation…
One of the primary challenges is simply maintaining our expectations… attentiveness… staying tuned into that inner connection.
Isaiah 50:4 (NIV)
The Sovereign LORD has given me an instructed tongue,
to know the word that sustains the weary.
He wakens me morning by morning,
wakens my ear to listen like one being taught.
Proverbs 8:34 (NIV)
Blessed is the man who listens to me,
watching daily at my doors,
waiting at my doorway.
Defines the life of Christ… the very life that now is alive in us.
Most of us would agree that the earthly life of Christ was quite an adventure…. Unexpected revelations…. Encounters.
Ø “I only do what I see the Father doing>’ (John 5:19)… He making it clear…’I haven’t been following some guidebook called pathways to adventurous ministry… just following what I see and sense from above.’
Ø Said his adventure is to be ours.
Goes on chapter 15, ‘I know longer call you servants but friends… because what God the father had revealed, he showed them, …. And then introduces the Spirit who would continue to unfold ‘what is to come,’ = ad (to) / vent (Come) = adventure.
Often lose that quality of adventure…
- from “Lord, what’s up today” to “Lord, get me through the day”
After all…
Meetings at work…Errands to run…. Surrounded by kids.
> How can I anticipate hearing God in the midst of all this?
We see in Christ… he did rise early to spend time in prayer… certainly a part … but we find he wasn’t so much being lead BEYOND his daily activity and apparent distractions…. but in the midst.
