1. I have been talking about letting God turn us inside out.
a. Most of my emphasis over these past few weeks has been about letting God use you, about getting your focus off of “your wants and desires” and paying attention to what God is doing and how He wants to change the world through you.
b. Last week we spoke about a few of the barriers (fear and loss of comfort zone) and about “getting out of the boat” so we can join Jesus on this great adventure and make a difference.
i. Everyone wants to make a difference…don‟t you?
c. Some of you have been listening intently, hanging onto every word, getting excited about making a difference in our community.
i. Others of you have been squirming uncomfortably, looking for the exits when I talk about establishing relationships with people who are different from you and I, or when I talk about moving outside of our walls and into the community.
d. So today, we are going to look at the primary source of our failure to be externally focused Christians and an inside out church.
2. The source of this struggle is found in every generation, in every church and in every Christian.
a. It is a tension between being and doing,
b. It is a tension between the development of the inward life and the outward life,
c. A tension between the passive and the active.
d. Between being in the world and of the world.
e. This tension still exists and demonstrates its fruit or lack of it by the minimal impact the church is having upon our culture and the relevance we give our community.
3. Mark 1:32-38 When evening came, after the sun had set, they began bringing to Him all who were ill and those who were demon-possessed. 33 And the whole city had gathered at the door. 34 And He healed many who were ill with various diseases, and cast out many demons; and He was not permitting the demons to speak, because they knew who He was. 35 In the early morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house, and went away to a secluded place, and was praying there. 36 Simon and his companions searched for Him; 37 they found Him, and said to Him, "Everyone is looking for You." 38 He said to them, "Let us go somewhere else to the towns nearby, so that I may preach there also; for that is what I came for."
a. After an extremely busy day in Capernaum we find Jesus rising early the next morning (probably between 3:00 and 4:00 a.m.) to spend time with His Father.
i. Jesus most likely was physically exhausted but He saw a need for spiritual renewal more than physical rest.
ii. So at a time when others might seek sleep and rest for their bodies, He found a quiet isolated spot where He could receive guidance from His Father.
iii. He went off to be alone with His Father and it was almost as if he was saying, "Lord, if I‟m going to have another day like the one I just had, I‟m going to need help. I need your power. I need your strength. I need your input."
iv. Jesus knew that if He was going to meet men and be giving out He must first meet with the Father.
b. Then, when the disciples woke up they went to find Jesus because the crowds were already gathering wanting to be healed. It appears that Simon Peter had big plans for Jesus that day. He interrupted Jesus‟ prayer time and said, “Lord everybody is looking for you.”
i. Peter made the same mistake many of us make. He wanted to plan the daily schedule according to what the people wanted to do rather than what the Father wanted.
ii. They were probably disappointed when Jesus told them He was not going back into the city, but on to the next town. His main ministry was to preach the gospel and not to heal the sick.
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From there He set out on a preaching tour in the synagogues throughout Galilee. God‟s will was for Jesus to branch out and preach in other villages. And in order to be faithful to God‟s plan for his life, he had to turn down opportunities in other directions. Sometimes, saying ‟yes‟ to God means saying ‟no‟ to people.
c. Here comes the 10 million dollar question: How did Jesus come to realize this and why did He choose to do this?
i. The answer? He heard the Father, He had spent time with Him so that he knew His will for the day ahead. He was singularly focused because He had heard His Father‟s voice and will, and He was empowered and fully charged (like a battery) to do the work ahead of Him.
4. I believe that this passage illustrates how Jesus had a balance between his “inner life” (His journey in) and his “outward life” (His journey out).
a. I am going to use the term “Journey In” –to describes the inner life and journey of the Christian.
b. We all need to take a journey inward.
i. This is that part of our journey where we nurture our spirit, where we feed our soul and where we commune with the Living God.
c. Failure to DAILY practice this journey inward has some serious consequences:
i. If we don‟t take the journey inside, we will not hear the voice of God.
ii. If we do not practice an inner discipline, we will not be nourished spiritually.
1. If you don‟t eat you will become very weak.
iii. If we do not have regular times of intimate communion with God, we will be powerless and useless.
1. Luke 5:15-16 “…large crowds were gathering to hear Him and to be healed of their sicknesses. 16 But Jesus Himself would often slip away to the wilderness and pray.”
2. Why do you think Jesus, the very Son of God, would “slip away by himself to the wilderness to pray?”
a. Because He knew the value of communion with the Father.
3. Martin Luther said, "I have so much to do today I must spend four hours over my usual two in prayer".
a. How many of you spent 2 hours in prayer today? How many of you spent any quiet time with God today? (don‟t raise your hands, I‟m not going to shame you).
4. I have a radio controlled airplane that has rechargeable batteries that power the controls to the plane. As long as they are fully charged, I can control the plane, do loop de loops, barrel rolls and even land and take off safely. But if I try to fly that plane on uncharged batteries I am destined to „crash and burn.”
a. It is the same with our spiritual life.
b. We are weak because we do not spend enough time “plugged in” to God.
c. And we will crash and burn when we try to do stuff for God without being recharged by spending intimate time with Him.
d. What does the Journey Inward consist of?
i. Personal quiet time (active listening to God).
1. Some of you got up this morning, got out your bible, and read a chapter or two and asked God to speak to you. You meditated on some of the words you read. You might even have journaled off a quick note about an insight or thought that might have come from God while you were quiet.
ii. Personal and corporate bible study (singularly and in relationship)
1. Some of you joined us this morning for bible study in a Sunday school class. Others of you gather in homes during the week to study the bible together. It is in this context that you hear God…both through the bible and through the people who you are with.
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iii. Personal and corporate intercession (praying together is the most powerful thing you can do)
1. Some of you prayed for me this morning…some of you prayed by yourselves, others of you prayed together. When you gathered together in the name of Jesus to pray, God was present revealing Himself among you.
iv. Personal and corporate worship (many folks say they can worship alone, but we need each other too!)
1. You being here today is part of the journey inward. You sing a song to God and your heart is touched or your fears are calmed. You enter His presence with praise, together with your spiritual family in this room.
v. These are all indispensable elements of the journey inward!
e. Quiet Time: Practical Advice:
i. “Quiet Time” requires giving God your undivided attention for a predetermined amount of time for the purpose of talking to and hearing from Him. -Charles Stanley, The Glorious Journey, p.500
ii. Start your day with a quiet time before God…before you read the paper, before you turn on the tv, before you do your chores. Take a few minutes and talk to God, dedicate yourself to Him and calm your spirit before the day takes over.
1. Most worthwhile endeavors take work and all of them take sacrifice.
2. If you offer your early morning hours to God and He will definitely bless you.
iii. It is said that Andrew Bonar, a great man of prayer, had three rules for his inward journey: (1) Not to speak to any man before speaking to Jesus; (2) Not to do anything with his hands until he had been on his knees; (3) Not to read the papers until he had read his Bible. - (Keith L. Brooks, Essential Themes, (Moody Press, Chicago; 1974), p. 6)
iv. Make it appoint to sit quietly. Don‟t fidget, move around, or do anything except allow God to speak to you. Prepare yourself to meet with Him. If you know there is something in your life preventing or hindering your relationship with Him, confess and accept the forgiveness He gives.
f. Will you make the commitment to improve your Inward Journey, your time of communion with God?
i. Way too often when God calls us to do something, we don‟t hear Him because we haven‟t been listening, taking the time to listen, or we are too busy doing something else.
5. The journey outward consists of our acts of love and service to others in response to the leading of the Holy Spirit.
a. All of our acts of love and service are outward actions.
b. They are the expressions and the fruit of our inward journey.
i. Matthew 4:1-2, 13-14 Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led around by the Spirit in the wilderness 2 for forty days, being tempted by the devil. v13 When the devil had finished every temptation, he left Him until an opportune time. And Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about Him spread through all the surrounding district.
ii. You cannot take the journey outward without first and regularly taking the journey inward.
iii. I once heard the story of an organist who was getting ready to play as the church service began. When he put his hands on the keys there was no sound. Everyone knew something was wrong, so the preacher quickly got up and led in prayer. The janitor was aware of the fact that they hadn‟t plugged in the organ. So he went during the prayer, plugged in the organ, wrote a note and handed it to the organist. The note said, “After the prayer, the power will be on.” That is so true isn‟t it? After the prayer, the power will be on.
c. There is a challenge for Christians. Once we get into the habit of developing our inward journey, we get comfortable with the nurturing of our inner life. We might even think that the reason we were saved was so we can sit back and feast on the God‟s word.
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i. The danger is that if we over focus upon the inward journey, we will become the “fat baby” Christians who are so enamored with the self-feeding that they forget why they are being nurtured spirirtually.
ii. As I visit churches and read their promotional material, I find one common theme that runs through the literature. “come and receive” “come and find” “experience this or that.”
iii. The journey outward must not be neglected.
d. If we are balanced and mature, we don‟t really choose between the two (inward and outward), but rather, we move between the two like the flow of alternating current, each driving and sustaining the other.
i. When Jesus was dry and tired, He sought out His Father‟s presence in prayer.
ii. It is when we over focus on one that the other dies and we become unbalanced.
iii. The Deacons are working on our church‟s mission statement.
1. One of our concerns is that we do not want to over focus upon the internal journey or the external journey, knowing that they are equally important and that each flows from the other.
2. We want to call every Christian in this church to do both.
e. When I call upon you to participate in externally focused ministry, I am making the assumption that you have an adequate inward journey and that you are ready to make the inside out journey.
i. But what is often the case is that many of us have neglected the inward journey, we only charge our batteries for the ANTICIPATED needs of the day, AND have no reserve charge for externally centered ministry.
ii. We must get in the habit of increasing our anticipation of what God wants to do with us.
iii. When we do so, we will sit plugged in to our charger (God) longer and deeper, preparing more fully for the work He has for us.
6. God has great plans for you and I and for this church.
a. A person on the mission team that was staying here said he had a vision when he stood in the hallway facing our sanctuary. He saw a pregnant woman nearly ready to deliver. Folks, that is revival and renewal in our community. God is waiting for us to be ready. He wants to turn us inside out, He wants us to DELIVER. Will you be ready?
7. Closing Story:
a. Tony Campolo tells about the time he was asked to speak at a Pentecostal college. Before the service, eight men had him kneel so they could place their hands on his head and pray. Tony was glad to have the prayer, but each of them prayed a long time, and the longer they prayed the more they pushed on Tony‟s head. And then they even seemed to wander in their prayers. One of the men didn‟t even pray for Tony, he prayed for some guy he was concerned about. He began to pray and said, “Dear Lord, you know Charlie Stoltzfus. He lives in that silver trailer down the road a mile. You know the trailer, Lord, just down the road on the right-hand side.” Tony wanted to interrupt and tell him that God already knew where they guy lived and didn‟t need directions, but he just knelt there trying to keep his head upright. The prayer went on: “Lord, Charlie told me this morning he‟s going to leave his wife and three kids. Step in and do something, God. Bring that family back together.” With that, the prayer time ended and Tony went on to preach at the college chapel. Things went well and he got in his car and began to drive home. As he drove onto the Pennsylvania Turnpike, he saw a hitchhiker and felt compelled to pick him up. Tony Compolo tells the story, “I drove a few minutes and I said: „Hi, my name‟s Tony Campolo. What‟s yours?‟ He said, „My name is Charlie Stoltzfus.‟ I couldn‟t believe it I got off the turnpike at the next exit and headed back. He got a bit uneasy with that and after a few minutes he said, „Hey mister, where are you taking me?‟ I said, „I‟m taking you home.‟ He narrowed his eyes and asked, „Why?‟ I said, „Because you just left your wife and three kids, right?‟ That blew him away. „Yeah Yeah, that‟s right.‟ With shock written all over his face, he plastered himself against the car door and never took his eyes off me. Then I
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really did him in as I drove right to his silver trailer. When I pulled up, his eyes seemed to bulge as he asked, „How did you know that I lived here?‟ I said „God told me.‟ (I believe God did tell me.) When he opened the trailer door his wife exclaimed, „You‟re back You‟re back ‟ He whispered in her ear and the more he talked, the bigger her eyes got. I said with real authority, „The two of you sit down. I‟m going to talk and you two are going to listen ‟ Man, did they listen . . . That afternoon I led those two young people to Jesus Christ.”
8. Are you willing to be used in a supernatural way? It begins with prayer.
9. Do you want to be an answer to someone‟s need? It begins with sitting at Jesus feet in quiet time.
a.
