DO YOU HAVE A SUPERSIZED GOD?
Isa. 40:12
INTRODUCTION
A. HUMOR: A HAIR CUT LESSON
1. A man went to a barbershop to have his hair cut and his beard trimmed. The man & the barber talked about various subjects.
2. When they eventually touched on the subject of God, the barber said, "I don't believe that God exists." "Why do you say that?" asked the customer.
3. "If God exists, why are there so many sick people? Why are there abandoned children? If God exists, there should be neither suffering nor pain. I can't imagine a loving God who would allow all of these things."
4. The customer disagreed, but didn't want to start an argument. After he left the barbershop, he saw a man in the street with long, stringy, dirty hair and an untrimmed beard. He had his answer.
5. He returned to the barbershop and said, "You know what? I don’t believe barbers exist." "How can you say that? I am a barber; and I just worked on you!"
6. "No!" the customer exclaimed. "Barbers don't exist because if they did, there’d be no people with long hair or untrimmed beards, like that man outside."
7. "Ah, but barbers DO exist!" answered the barber. "What happens is, people don’t come to me!"
8. "Exactly!" affirmed the customer. "God also exists! What happens is, people don't go to Him and let Him help them!"
B. TEXT
Isa. 40:12 (BBE), “In the hollow of whose hand have the waters been measured? and who is able to take the heavens in his stretched-out fingers? who has gathered together the dust of the earth in a measure? who has taken the weight of the mountains, or put the hills into the scales?”
C. THESIS
This morning I’m asking the question, “Do You Have a Supersized God?”
I. CONNECTION BTW VISION & FAITH
A. THE IMPORTANCE OF VISION
1. It's been said that, "No man/woman lives beyond their vision." The bigger your vision, the greater your potential!
2. Helen Keller, who was completely blind, was once asked, "What would be worse than being born blind?" She responded, "To have sight, without vision!"
3. Do you have a vision of what God wants to do with your life? Proverbs 29:18 says, "Without a vision, the people perish." The NIV adds, “the people cast off restraint."
4. The problem of Samson wasn't that he didn't have anointing, but that he didn't have vision. As a result, he fell into the pattern of the world!
5. God wants to raise our expectation level about what He will do, but that requires you get a bigger vision of God Himself.
6. If you can believe, you will receive; if you doubt, you’ll miss out! We’re satisfied with too little; we’ve settled for minimum Christianity! God is challenging that.
7. Jesus said to a man who had staggering faith, “All things are possible to him [her] who believes” Mk. 9:22-23.
8. The power of an Unlimited God is available in UNLIMITED QUANTITY if we believe God is who He says He is, and will do what He says He will do!
B. EXPANDING OUR VISION OF GOD
1. The Milky Way galaxy is vast. Even at the speed of light, which can travel 5 trillion, 874 billion, 904 million, 512 thousand miles in one year – it still takes 100,000 years – at the speed of light - to cross the Milky Way galaxy! That’s big!
2. But God’s far bigger than that! Astronomers now estimate that the number of galaxies in the observable universe is between 200 billion and 2 trillion, with recent estimates suggesting there could be between 6 and 20 trillion galaxies!
3. Get a grip on your chair. Astronomers recently discovered a wall of galaxies 1 billion light years across, larger than anything else ever identified in the cosmos! This supercluster of galaxies is being called the BOSS Great Wall. It is made up of 830 separate galaxies that gravity has corralled into four superclusters, connected by massive filaments of hot gas, Joshua Sokol reports for New Scientist. Lurking 4.5 to 6.5 billion lightyears away, the BOSS has an estimated mass 10,000 times greater than our own Milky Way!
4. God says in Isaiah 40:25-26, (HCSB) “Who will you compare Me to, or who is My equal?” asks the Holy One. “Look up & see: who created these? He brings out the starry host by number; He calls all of them by name. Because of His great power and strength, not one of them is missing.”
5. This same Creator is the personal God who sent down His Son to die for us (to demonstrate His love) and has given us great & precious promises in His Word to encourage us. He challenges us to believe and act on His promises!
II. PAUL CHANGED THE ATHENIAN’S CONCEPT OF GOD
A. WE NEED A BIGGER GOD!
1. Over 1900 years ago, the apostle Paul stood in Athens, Greece on Mars Hill, near the Acropolis, and confronted the Athenians’ about their concept of God.
2. Not much has changed. Today, throughout the world, people still worship idols, statues, inanimate objects and animals. Hindus are said to have 330 million gods and goddesses! In some parts of Asia, they even have "paper gods."
3. We mock the ignorance of such backward cultures who bow before an image of metal or stone, but don’t WE "dumb God down" by NOT believing in His power to save, heal, & deliver?
4. Some shrink God to their level by making Him a convenient Deity who allows them to do whatever they like.
5. Folks, there’s only one true God! He’s the One who created the heavens & the Earth. He hears us when we pray, and He answers our prayers, if they conform to His will.
6. He says, “Call to Me, and I will ANSWER you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know” Jer. 33:3.
B. HE’S THE GOD WHO ANSWERS!
1. Elijah, on Mt. Carmel, proposed a test to see who’s really God. “The god who ANSWERS by fire—He is God” 1 Kgs. 18:24. And the true God answered!
2. Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar had 3 Hebrews who wouldn’t bow to his idol. He said, “Who is that god that shall deliver you out of my hand?”(3:15). They answered, “Our God...WILL DELIVER us…”(3:17). He did!
3. In 2 Kgs, Assyrian King Sennacherib had surrounded Jerusalem with a massive army. He told Hezekiah, “Who of all the gods...has been able to save his land from me?” 2 Kgs. 18:33-35. Hezekiah spread his letter before God and that night God put 185,000 Assyrian soldiers to death and they withdrew in defeat!
4. WE SERVE A GOD WHO SAVES AND DELIVERS! Maybe you’ve been disappointed before, not receiving what you sought. Maybe your God’s a too small. Why don’t you go to the God mighty to save! He never fails. When faith contacts the True God, power will flow!
C. ILLUS.: IT’S TIME TO LET GOD BE SUPERSIZED!
1. A preacher went to McDonald's and ordered a value meal. The cashier asked him if he wanted to supersize his order – that is, make it bigger.
2. He told him, “No, I just wanted my regular-sized order.” He asked him again if he was sure he didn't want his order supersized. H told him again, “No thank you.” He got his regular-sized order, and drove off.
3. Too many Christians just want a regular-sized LIFE, a regular-sized FUTURE and a regular-sized GOD. But God’s offering to supersize it for you, if you’ll let Him. (Tony Evan’s Book of Illustrations, #9)
III. THERE’S NO HINDRANCES TO GOD ANSWERING!
David said, "Never have I seen the righteous forsaken nor his seed begging bread" Psalm 37:25
A. IT DOESN'T MATTER HOW MANY GENERATIONS
1. Abraham was promised, "I'll be with you and your seed after you." For 4,000 years, God’s been keeping His promise!
2. If God makes you a promise that your kids will be saved; even if you die -– have faith -- God WILL keep His promise!
B. IT DOESN'T MATTER WHAT THE ECONOMIC CONDITIONS
1. There’s a lot of people afraid of the possible collapse of the nation’s economy. “How will we eat? How will we make it?”
2. Remember, there was Famine over all the world in the time of Joseph, and God provided!
3. There was a famine during Elijah’s time and he was fed by ravens. If God took care of him, He’ll take care of you!
C. DOESN'T MATTER THE SIZE OF THE NEED
1. God fed 3.5 million Jews three meals a day for 40 years. It took the equivalent of 100 train cars of 66 tons each, of manna, to feed them for one day.
2. The Lord Jesus fed 5000 men and their families from a few fishes and loaves (Mt. 14:20).
3. ILLUSTRATION
a. A millionaire agreed to a business partnership with a young mechanic whom he believed would be successful.
b. The young man was elated! The rich man's millions would be at his disposal. However, the contract had the word “Limited.” This made it clear that the millionaire was responsible only to the extent of $5,000.
c. But your Senior Partner, Jesus, who owns all the silver and gold and the cattle on 1,000 hills,
hasn’t limited what you can access. The only limits there are the ones you put there yourself! Hallelujah!
D. DOESN'T MATTER WHAT KIND OF NEED
1. Deliverance? -- Peter from jail.
2. Safety? -- Daniel in the lion's den;
-- Disciples in the storm.
3. Healing? -- Hezekiah.
4. Encouragement? -- Elijah under the Juniper tree.
5. Help on the road? -- Nehemiah.
CONCLUSION
A. ILLUSTRATION
1. During the frontier days, in a northern state, there was a man whose wife became very ill. If she didn't get a certain medicine, she would die.
2. The problem was, the man had to get across a large lake in the dead of winter to get the medicine. He was terrified to walk out on the ice, so he began to crawl on his hands and knees.
3. He got 2 miles out on the lake, and all of a sudden, he felt a rumbling on the ice. He thought, "Surely the ice is cracking."
4. The sound got louder and then became a thunderous roar. He looked behind him and saw a man driving a large team of horses across the ice.
5. The horses pulled a heavy wagon loaded with pig iron. They came shooting past him and kept going, throwing up a shower of ice particles.
6. Suddenly the man stood up, started walking, and then running. He’d learned something; if that ice could hold a team of horses pulling a load of pig iron, it would certainly hold him!
7. If you want to have more faith in God, then hang around people who’re riding with God; then you'll know He can carry you too! Their faith will bolster yours! (Tony Evans Bk of Illus, p. 99-100).
B. THE CALL
1. Charles Steinmetz, the great scientist, never received a fixed salary from his sponsors. At intervals, his backers would give him a book of blank checks.
2. Whatever his needs might be, whether great or small, he needed only to fill in the amount on the check, sign his name, and present it to the bank.
3. WHAT DO YOU NEED GOD TO DO FOR YOU? The apostle Paul said, "My God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus" Philippians 4:6, 19.
4. Salvation call; prayer for needs to be met.
