How Will We Get From Here To There?

How do we get there from here?

Pastor Glenn Newton 2-13-05

Text: 1 Chr. 16:7-23 (Read)

“How do we get there from Here? Have you ever asked that question? Maybe when your on a trip and your husband, the navigator won’t stop and ask for directions? Maybe you’ve said that when you’ve been at Silver Dollar City, you can see the ride you want to get on, but you can’t seem to get there? That’s frustrating isn’t it?

“How do we get there from Here?” Maybe you have thought that as you have looked at our goals for the next five years…. How are we going to get there? Is it possible?

Two weeks ago today we signed a two year lease on this property, and I believe with all my heart that we will be able walk out of this building and into our new building when this lease expires…. Can you see God working in our church in such a way that we could do this? Amen? Many times it’s hard to see with our human eyes what God could do…. That’s why we are a people of Faith… and our faith isn’t in our own abilities or our own resources…. But instead, who is our Faith In?

As we read this morning about King David and how he was giving thanks to God… you need to know why He was giving thanks…. And this morning from this story I want to share a couple of directions that we can take from this story that will help us, directions that worked back then, and directions that will help us today get there from here… are you ready?

1. 1st set of directions…… The Spirit of God must be involved in all we do.

Do you know what this Ark of the covenant of the Lord was? It was this big container, and the Israelites have been carrying it around from place to place, giving it it’s own tent…. What was so special about this “Ark” of the Covenant?

This Ark contained many of the Artifacts of the history of the people of Israel, God’s people… is that what was so special… the fact that the ten commandments, that’s Moses staff, and other important items of history were stored in there? It wasn’t just a moving museum was it?

The Very Spirit of God, God’s very presence was in this Ark of the covenant… it was holy, it was to be moved with reverence….. We read in chapter 14 and 15 of 1 Chronicles and we see that David tried to move the Ark of the Covenant with people who weren’t qualified to move it…. They were moving it and one of the movers reached out to steady the Ark when one of the oxen stumbled….. And God struck the man dead…. You didn’t touch the Ark of the Covenant in any way except that which was prescribed by God. This Ark was Holy…. Why? Because God is Holy…. And His Spirit resided in that Ark… and King David knew if we was to be successful as the King of Israel… He needed the Ark of the Covenant close by him and his people.

How does this apply to us today?

Do you think we will be successful in anything we try to accomplish as a church if we don’t have the Holy Spirit involved and leading us?

The truth is we must be a spirit led, spirit filled people if we are to be the church that God wants us to be… we can not accomplish anything for God without the power of the Holy Spirit in our lives… and in the life of our church.

I found it interesting how David used music as he was moving the Ark of the Covenant from place to place…. He always had people singing and playing instruments, praising God, giving glory and honor through their music and singing… and even dancing. We know King David was a dancer….. He loved to dance before the Lord…. And God was pleased with Him…..

If we are going to recognize the Holy Spirit as the first step in getting from where we are to where we know God wants us to go…. We need to make it a priority to Worship…. The Word tells us that the Spirit of God is present in the praise of His people…. How have we done this morning?

How did you arrive this morning for Worship? Did you come to church today with a great desire to give yourself in worship to God? In our singing, did you truly sing to God, did you let Him hear from your heart this morning? Did you worship Him during our offering… our giving is an act of worship…….Did you pour yourself out during our prayer time…. Letting God speak to you as well as telling God your needs?