Moving With God

Bunbury

Sun am

29/08/10

Last service in Mary St building

“Moving with God”

Intro: *** My daughter Tina & her husband Andrew love camping! Every chance they get they pack up all the camping gear & head off out into the great Australian outdoors. B/c they have been doing it for years they have a considerable amount of equipment. For them everything that you might want / need at home you also need when you go camping. So they load up their 4x4 w/ all the ‘necessary’ things for the trip & off they go.

Now I’ve never been w/ them so I’m not quite sure how long it takes them to set up. Apparently they can get it all happening fairly quick so that they can begin enjoying the real reason they go camping – the outdoors! But I imagine that for some campers w/ all the gear they have these days that by the time they get everything set up there is hardly any time to enjoy it b/4 it’s time to pack up again & head back home.

I have to admit that although the idea of carrying a swag / bedroll & a couple of cooking utensils & sleeping under the stars may not be the most comfortable way to go but it’s easy!!!

The Bible gives us the idea that God is a God who is on the move.

And one of the repeated warnings of Scripture is that we need to beware lest we find our/s being left behind.

The truth of the matter is that if we aren’t ready to move w/ God we’ll find our/s being left behind.

So t/m on the our last day in this building I want to preach a sermon about ‘Moving with God’.

Text: Numbers 9:15-23 (NKJV) 15Now on the day that the tabernacle was raised up, the cloud covered the tabernacle, the tent of the Testimony; from evening until morning it was above the tabernacle like the appearance of fire. 16So it was always: the cloud covered it by day, and the appearance of fire by night.

17Whenever the cloud was taken up from above the tabernacle, after that the children of Israel would journey; and in the place where the cloud settled, there the children of Israel would pitch their tents.

18At the command of the LORD the children of Israel would journey, and at the command of the LORD they would camp; as long as the cloud stayed above the tabernacle they remained encamped.

19Even when the cloud continued long, many days above the tabernacle, the children of Israel kept the charge of the LORD and did not journey. 20So it was, when the cloud was above the tabernacle a few days: according to the command of the LORD they would remain encamped, and according to the command of the LORD they would journey. 21So it was, when the cloud remained only from evening until morning: when the cloud was taken up in the morning, then they would journey; whether by day or by night, whenever the cloud was taken up, they would journey. 22Whether it was two days, a month, or a year that the cloud remained above the tabernacle, the children of Israel would remain encamped and not journey; but when it was taken up, they would journey. 23At the command of the LORD they remained encamped, and at the command of the LORD they journeyed; they kept the charge of the LORD, at the command of the LORD by the hand of Moses.

# 1. The presence of God.

A. Why was it the people of God needed to keep moving?

*** I must admit I hate moving!!! This last move we made in June was just about the straw that broke the camel’s back for me ...... I hate moving! I counted how many times we’ve move since we’ve been married it I worked out that this was the 21st time we have shifted house. That’s about 20 x too many for me! I’d like to have been able to settle down in one house & not move. But the call / will of God doesn’t always want to be where I want to be so ....... it’s time to move again.

a. But why would you want to move if you didn’t have to?

i. The truth of the matter is that by settling down into one place we get a chance to make a life, meet people & establish a familiar environment.

ii. And the reality is that’s what most of us want in life.

iii. And every time we move it takes quite some time to establish these things again.

*** I was down in Busselton the other week having lunch w/ Ps Farrell. Every time I go down there & have lunch w/ him as we walk down the streets of Busselton he usually says hello to several people & there is a familiarity that he enjoys down there. Who wouldn’t want that?