Your Turning Point
I want to share a very simple yet very powerful message for your life tonight.
It does not matter where you find yourself in life. It does not matter where you have been or what you have done in life. It does not matter what mistakes that you have made in the past. It does not matter if you have failed over and over again or even if you never tried at all. Right now… at this moment you have an opportunity to have a Turning Point in your life. Think about this for a second. Do not be quick to dismiss this or to tune me out. You have the chance today to make a life changing decision that you will remember for all your days.
This is such an important moment and opportunity from God that He called us to start this church here in Cleburne. It is the very heartbeat of our vision and purpose that we named this new church “Turning Point”. We are called to share the good news, to offer hope and to let people know that they do have an opportunity before them. That all is not lost!
This is not just a one victory moment either. This is the path that will lead to victory after victory after victory. We are going to help you to expect to be victorious in all things in life.
It is about helping you to change what you believe thereby changing what you receive out of life. The very best thing that could happen to you is that you would believe what God says about you more than what you have seen, done or experienced.
You see the mistakes of the past are the past. The problems you encountered in your yesterdays are just that… problems you had and perhaps are still carrying with you. The thing that so many people are guilty of is allowing the echoes of the past to be the voice of the future. I am here to tell you that you have listened to the past for too long and now is the time to experience a life filled with hope, with purpose and with a plan.
A life looked at with eyes of faith will begin to look much different. It is amazing what you will see.
A rusty old car in a junk yard may look like what it is…junk But in the eyes of a mechanic he sees a classic automobile that will turn heads once he has the opportunity to shape and rebuild it.
Your life at times may look like something of not much value… perhaps in your hands it is a mess. But when God looks at your life He does not see junk. He sees a life that if given the opportunity He can shape and rebuild it and make it better than you ever dreamed possible. No matter how bad it seems to you… God can always make something incredible out of it.
How do you think your life would look if God really had a chance with it?
When you came in here some things might have looked like tragedy or defeat to you but I believe in the hands of God if you looked again you might just see them as an opportunity for victory to God.
What might look like a marriage on the way to divorce to you; looks like an opportunity for restoration once God is involved.
What looks like certain financial ruin and a life of struggling with bills to you, looks like a great opportunity to teach someone about the blessings of God when their finances are His.
What may be declared an incurable disease to you is a miracle of healing just waiting to happen! Don’t believe it? Well God does.
A life that looks sad, depressed and has no hope is just a life that is empty of the promises of God… it is easily corrected. It just needs to be filled with the life changing promises of God.
No matter what your life looks like to you today, I can assure you that its present state is not the way that God sees it. You can only see your today while God is looking at your tomorrow. You only see what your life is while God see’s what it can be!
You might be doing all that you can but that should only prove to you that you cannot do it on your own and it is the time, the opportunity to live your life according to what God has planned for you.
Today I want to look at a passage of scriptures about Abraham and what he did when he was in your place. This scripture is the very essence of who we are as a church and the message we want to relay to those in our community. Read with me if you will in Romans 4: 1-3 am reading this out of the Message Bible as it states it so perfectly for this message.
1-3 So how do we fit what we know of Abraham, our first father in the faith, into this new way of looking at things? If Abraham, by what he did for God, got God to approve him, he could certainly have taken credit for it. But the story we’re given is a God-story, not an Abraham-story. What we read in Scripture is, "Abraham entered into what God was doing for him, and that was the turning point. He trusted God to set him right instead of trying to be right on his own."
Romans 4:1-3 The Message
Look at this last part of the scripture again:
"Abraham entered into what God was doing for him, and that was the turning point. He trusted God to set him right instead of trying to be right on his own."
This is the Word you need to embrace tonight. Tonight is not about you being perfect and making all of the right changes and fixing everything yourself. It is not about you trying to fix things at all. It is you entering into what God is doing for you. Not you trying to be right on your own… it is you trusting God to set your life right as you trust Him. It is about you believing that God can do far more with your life than you have done. It is about you just having faith in Him. Just as Abraham did… you simply trust God set your life right instead of trying to decide what is right on your own.
You see once you realize that God really does have a plan for you and all you have to do is participate in the plan you will have found your Turning Point just as Abraham did. The first step is not about doing… it is about believing.
It is not about doing… this moment is not about you having to do anything. It is not about past failures or how many times you have tried before. It is simply believing what God has to say. The only thing between you as you are and you being right in God’s eye is simply belief. I know you may not be able to trust yourself or place confidence in your own ability… but can you trust God. Can you believe that He is big enough to handle His end of it?
Look at what it says about Abraham in Genesis 15
6 And Abram believed the LORD, and the LORD counted him as righteous because of his faith. Genesis 15:6 NLT
6 And he believed! Believed GOD! God declared him "Set-Right-with-God." Genesis 15:6 The Message
Now this is amazing… all that you have to do in order for you to be Set-Right-with-God is simply believe Him. In other words right now you can have God look down at your life and not see you how you came in but see you in the right position with Him just by believing that He has a plan for you. That His Word is true.
Sure Abraham did more after this, he followed the plan, he lived the life… but before he did one physical thing or made a single change he just believed God was true and instantly he was set right with God. He didn’t even have a chance to fail… God did not take a prove it to me attitude. It did not involve Abraham being strong enough, good enough or perfect enough. It was just him believing that God was able to do what God said He would do.
Think of it this way. It is like having that old rusty junk car in the yard and you saying here God, I give it to you. Make something out of it.
Isn’t that amazing? You have a life filled with troubles, problems, past mistakes, failures, short comings and you simply give it to Him. Saying here you are God, I give this to you… I believe you Lord. I trust it to you now.
Simply believe what God says about you! (Leave this slide up until we dismiss)
You know what it is so incredible about all of this? God does not care how many times you have given it to Him before and then took it back. He is always willing in His infinite mercy and grace to take it over again. You see often times we look at past attempts of doing the right thing as failures because we didn’t follow through with it and the enemy tries to tell you it didn’t work before and it will not work now. I can tell you that he is a liar. Don’t fall for it this time. The truth is that it is broke, it is messed up and it needs help and there is only one way to get things right and that is in the hands of God. Do you know why God welcomes you back? Because He knows that He can make something incredible out of your life and He refuses to give up on you.
Let me ask you just to bow your heads all across this place tonight
So my question for you tonight is simple. Could you use a Turning Point in your life? Do you have some things that could stand some restoration, some repairs, some fixing? Are you really satisfied with the life you have or could you use a change?
I want you to realize something… you are not here by accident. You are here by the direct plan of God. He cares about you and He loves you too much to leave you the way you are. And the amazing thing is that He is not asking you to do something hard… He is not asking you to fix everything. All that he is asking you right now is to be like Abraham and believe in Him. Just give your life whatever condition it is over to Him, trust Him, have faith in Him. Once you say yes to Him… without you even doing one thing to change your life through any efforts of your own He will count you in right standing with Him. Yes you will still have problems and situations that need help and problems to overcome but once you say yes to faith in Him that is all just details. He will help you, He will guide you, and He will empower you to see your life changed. To see a life filled with joy, with peace, with purpose, with a plan and with hope. Can you do that tonight? Will you take advantage of this Turning Point in your life that He is offering you?
Abraham simply believed that he could have the life that God said he could have. He simply believed that God would do what He said he would do. Can you say the same? Can you believe that if you give God a real chance that He can turn your life into what He designed it to be all along? If you can, then pray this prayer with me and mean it from your heart.
Prayer Dismiss
