God Is For Me Series

NOTE:

This is a manuscript, and not a transcript of this message. The actual presentation of the message differed from the manuscript through the leading of the Holy Spirit. Therefore, it is possible, and even likely that there is material in this manuscript that was not included in the live presentation and that there was additional material in the live presentation that is not included in this manuscript.

ENGAGE

I’m going to take this occasion to brag on my wife a bit this morning. She does not, like the stereotypical pastor’s wife, play the piano and sing in the choir. But what she does do better than anyone else I know, is to minister to children through her gift of teaching. As those of you who have kids know, she does that here at TFC by leading our children’s ministry, teaching almost every week in our children’s Bible Club and even filling in whenever the person scheduled to teach Children’s Church cancels at the last minute.

But as much time as she spends doing all of that, she spends countless more hours doing that in her vocation as a third-grade teacher. And by almost any measure, she does that more effectively than most, if not all, her colleagues. That isn’t because she is the smartest teacher, although she is very intelligent. It isn’t because she is the most fun teacher, although she does have a good sense of humor. I’m convinced that the reason she is so successful is because her students know that she is “for them”. She expects a lot from her students and she can be hard on them when they don’t live up to their potential, but she let’s them know all the time that is because she wants the very best for them because she is for them.

TENSION

I think all of us excel much better when we know that others are for us:

• The best marriages are those in which both people are for their spouses and they let them know that.

• The best parenting takes place in homes where the children know that their parents are for them.

• The most successful people in the workplace are those who have bosses who are for them.

• The most successful sports teams are those where the players know that the coaches and fans are for them.

• And as we’ll see this morning, the most successful Christians are those who know that God is for them.

So the message this morning is primarily for those who are disciples of Christ, who have placed your faith in Jesus alone. But at the same time, it is also a message for any of you who haven’t yet made that commitment.

If you are a disciple of Jesus, then the goal of this message is to help develop an unshakeable foundation under your faith – a foundation that will motivate you to live a radical life in which you are willing to take risks for the sake of the gospel and to bring the kingdom of God near to others.

If you’re not a disciple of Jesus, then the goal this morning is to help you come to the place where you understand why you need to make that commitment in your life.

So as I begin this morning, I want to ask you two questions that will help you evaluate which of those two groups you are in. I won’t ask anyone to raise your hand or answer out loud. These questions are for you to consider quietly and to answer to God, the one who already knows the answers because He knows your heart. These two questions come from a familiar verse we studied a couple of weeks ago – Romans 8:28. Hopefully you’ll remember that when we looked at that verse, we said that the promise there doesn’t apply to everyone. It only applies to those who love God and who are called according to His purpose.

The first question is:

Do you love God?

Obviously none of us are capable of doing that perfectly. So maybe I should ask that question like this: “Is God your treasure? Do you value Him more than anything else in your life?”

The second question may be a little harder to answer:

Have you been called by God according to His purpose?

I’m not asking if you’ve heard the gospel. I’m not even asking if you prayed a prayer and asked Jesus into your life.

In order to understand better what I’m asking here we need to go to another of Paul’s letters – his first letter to the church in Corinth. And in the first chapter of that letter, Paul wrote these words:

For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.