Sermon Central
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I Stand At The Door And Knock
Contributed by Kevin Ruffcorn on Apr 11, 2005 (message contributor)
Summary: God wants to enter into a realtionship with us, but God never forces himself upon us. God always waits for us to open the door.
Revelation 3:20 “I Stand at the Door and Knock”
INTRODUCTION
Often we find ourselves questioning God’s moment, or lack of movement, in our lives and in our world.
· We wonder why God didn’t move more aggressively these past weeks and keep people safe and protected from the effects of the tornadoes.
· We cannot fathom why God allows the likes of Adolph Hitler, Joseph Stalin, and Saddam Hussein to walk the earth.
· We complain that God doesn’t seem to be able to achieve the proper balance between sunshine and rain and thereby achieve the highest crop yield.
At one time in human history, God did act decisively and aggressively. It was at the time of Noah. God judged all of humankind by a flood. At the end of the event, God said that he would never do it again.
STRAIGHT-LINE POWER
We want God to use (in the words of theologian Robert Capon) “straight-line power. That is the use of force to get the results you want. This is the power most often used in our world. It is the power that gets things done, but it is not the power that God wills to use.
God doesn’t use straight-line power because it isn’t effective in relationships.
· Parents understand quickly that while straight-line power works well in saving their children from immediate danger it doesn’t work well in controlling the actions of teenagers.
· Threats don’t work in forcing people do what we want them to do.
Left-handed power is intuitive, open and imaginative. The world sees it was weakness, but it is power that places importance on relationships. Relationships are the greatest priority.
GOD’S RELATIONSHIP WITH US
God is left-handed in God’s relationship with us. God continually moves in our lives to draw us ever closer to God.
· God uses the tragedies of our lives to convince us of our need for God.
· When we are weak, God demonstrates to us that God is strong.
· God convinces us of God’s steadfast love for us.
CONCLUSION
Jesus stands outside the door of our lives and knocks. He waits for us to respond to his presence and his love, and open our lives to him. He will continue to stand at the door of our lives until we open the door.
The invitation is always extended to us.
Amen
