Heavenly Styled Service Series

Message

"Heavenly Styled Service"

A Sermon On 1 Peter 1:10-12

As soon as we start to talk about the will of God all sorts of questions arise don’t they.

It happens in relation to our career

• sometimes we have setbacks.

• there are times when we have a few false starts.

• a mid-life crisis can also happen.

Our questions about God’s will certainly arise when we think about our future partners and marriage.

• who has God got in store for me?

• how long should we wait before getting serious?

• have we got what it takes to last?

• when will the right person come along?

Most of us have had enough experience of life to know that the questions have arisen again and again.

• what house should we buy? when? where? do we sell and move on?

• what school should our children go to? will we be able to afford it?

• what investments should we make? how much risk should we take?

Then of course we can turn the question around.

• is it God’s will that we are going through an incurable disease?

• is it God’s will when a teenager is killed in a car accident?

• the current issues surrounding the events in Syria … is that God’s will?

That’s what happens when we begin to talk about God’s will doesn’t it. Question after question arises. And we can all think of times when we have been perplexed, and even somewhat frustrated, as we have sought to understand God’s will.

But is this the track Jesus wants us to take when we pray Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven?

When it comes to God’s will Are we meant to straight away fall into a cycle of questions, perplexity and frustration? That isn’t the impression we get from the Scriptures.

Read Luke 12:42-48

Here the master is God/Jesus and we are the managers – we have been given great responsibility. And the parable makes it very clear that it is possible, very possible, that we can do what God wants.

That servant who knows his master’s will and does not get ready or does not do what his master wants will be beaten with many blows

• the master would have clearly spoken about what was required.

• the will has been revealed and the response is clear.

• it would be unfair to be beaten for something that you didn’t know you had to do.

It is very evident here that the will of the master brings clarity, not confusion, not questions, not second guessing.

You see we need to recognise that there are many aspects of life which God has told us what His will is.

Career.

Maybe not a specific career, but we are told how to go about it.

• Honouring those in charge.

• Not abusing slaves/ those under us.

• Acting with integrity even when no-one is watching.

Using these actions as our guidelines we can go into many jobs with success and enjoyment. It isn’t the specific job but the attitude.

Relationships

Not told who to marry by name. But we are told how to make it happen.

• Same faith.

• Love.

• One-another passages.

• Avoiding lust

Do this and God will bring us to that person which He has in mind for us.

When we pray Your will be done we are not looking to have all the answers or know how everything is going to turn out … we are not praying about that which is uncertain.

Rather Your will be done is a prayer of certainty; a prayer of specific action.

What we are asking is that we will follow the call to live in obedience recognising that the Scriptures give us an amazing amount of direction in life if we are willing to follow that direction.

It isn’t so much about answers, as about attitude.

And the sort of attitude Jesus is looking for is spelt out specifically in the prayer.

Our Father in Heaven.

Hallowed be Your Name.

Your kingdom come.

Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

You may not have seen this before but

When it comes to the will of God we take our lead from the angels.

Ours is to be a heavenly styled service. Therefore the example of the angels is the example we follow. When we look at the actions of the angels we find a compelling example.

The angels are unwavering in their service.

They serve without question despite the circumstances which prevail. Despite what logic might say the angels do nothing more or less then what is commanded.

The arrest of Jesus is an excellent example of this. In an effort to protect his Lord impetuous Peter draws his sword. But Jesus says put it away for there are 12 legions of angels ready.