Do Your Assumptions Limit Your Service To God? Series

Sermon Brief

Date Written: February 26, 2010

Date Preached: February 28, 2010

Where Preached: Oak Park (AM)

Sermon Details:

Sermon Series: The Great Adventure – Rediscovering the Adventure

Sermon Title: Do Your Assumptions Limit Your Service? Part 4 of 6

Sermon Text: Gen 15:5; John 14:12

Introduction:

How many people here today have jumped to conclusions in their life? Have you ever faced a situation, looked at the circumstances and summed it all up and came to a conclusion that it MUST be this or it HAS TO BE that… I am sure that I am the ONLY person here that has EVER done that!

Let me give you a recent example of ‘jumping to conclusions’ that we all can relate to… Do you remember this past football season?

The first 14 weeks of this past NFL season our beloved New Orleans Saints were top dogs, after 14 weeks our team was 13-0 and there was NO stopping us! I mean we were talking about Super Bowl… and an undefeated season! Many people jumped to the conclusion that this team could NOT be defeated!

However, in the last 3 weeks of the season our team hit a skid. On a Saturday night in front of a national TV audience we witness our Saints get man-handled by the hated Dallas Cowboys. All of a sudden there was a chink in the armor and we were vulnerable.

We followed that game with a game against the lowly Tampa Bay Buccaneers, a team that had only won 1 game all year. We jumped out to a 14 pt lead only to see our team play terrible the rest of the game and see our chance of winning fade when our kicker missed a game winning FG in the last seconds. In OT the Bucs drove down the field and won the game on a FG.

At this point there were MANY in our city who began to have flashbacks of the early 1980’s and the Aints… some even broke out their bags! How could our team fall SO FAR… SO FAST! Many people came out and said that the Saints were through for the year! This was not just the fans here, but the national media was questioning whether or not the Saints train had derailed.

The next week the coach decided not to play many of his starters and we lost again, for the 3rd week in a row, finishing the season 13-3. Now that is the best record New Orleans has EVER had… we had clinched home field advantage throughout the playoffs and there were still those who were jumping to the conclusion that our team was finished… 3 losses in a row and now we have to take off a week… we are going to get killed in the playoffs!

However, when the players and coaches were interviewed in during this time, you could tell there was NO panic in their voice and on many occasions they stated that there was a plan and they were going to be fine! But so many people jumped to the conclusion that the Saints were finished…after all NO team in the HISTORY of the NFL had ever lost its last 3 games and gone on to win the Super Bowl!

Many people looked at the situation, they surveyed the circumstances and jumped to the conclusion that this year would end like every other Saints year… with disappointment and a ton of ‘what if’ questions for the fans!

But what happened? I tell you what happened, the plan kicked into gear and the players responded and the team worked together and now for the 1st time in the history of our beloved Saints… we have a Super Bowl championship to celebrate and brag about!

But how many people jumped to the conclusion that the same ole thing was going to happen? I am sure thousands of fans suffered through that feeling! I want you to know that is a difficult feeling to avoid!

The feeling of ‘here we go again’! It is very difficult for us to NOT jump to conclusions, it is in our nature to try to see things through to the end… it is very difficult for us to have faith and trust in things we cannot see!

Now when we look at our lives in Christ and the question I ask in the title of my sermon, “Do your assumptions limit your service to God?” I want to ask you today… have you ever jumped to conclusions with God and the direction He is taking you?

When we look at our verse for this morning we find Abraham in the same situation that many of us are in today. Abraham has been called by God, and God has issued a promise to him, but Abraham is viewing the situation and the circumstances and was jumping to his own conclusions…