My God’s a Big Ol’ God
Various Scriptures
Aberdeen Area Promise Keepers Fall Rally
September 27, 2001
Introduction
When I asked Ron what he wanted me to speak on, he said that the theme was basically revival.
Well, I thought that’s about as good a theme as we could get, especially in light of the tragic events that hit our nation a couple weeks ago.
Guys, it’s my humble opinion that revival starts by getting a better grasp on God.
And my message tonight is meant to encourage you to get a hold of this awesome, mighty God.
J.B. Phillips wrote a book called, Your God is Too Small.
Tonight I want to give you a message entitled, My God’s a Big Ol’ God.
I see one of my jobs as a pastor and brother in Christ is to be a kind of cheerleader for the Body of Christ, encouraging them to get excited about what God can do in and through His people if they would just jump on board.
That’s what I hope to do tonight.
And I want to start off by tell you that my God’s a big ol’ God. In fact, He’s so big…
I. He created the universe.
Genesis 1:1 says this:
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
Anybody here able to do that? Didn’t think so.
We can’t begin to approach the power of our great Creator God.
Isaiah 40:26 says:
Lift your eyes and look to the heavens:
Who created all these?
He who brings out the starry host one by one, and calls them each by name.
Because of his great power and mighty strength, not one of them is missing.
Did y’all catch that? Because of whose great power and mighty strength? Ours? I don’t think so.
The story is told of a certain bunch of scientists who came to God one day. They said, “Well, God, we’ve finally done it. We truly have no use for you anymore. We have figured out how to make man out of the dirt, just like you did.”
God said, “Really? What do you say we have a man-making contest, okay?”
And the scientists said, “You’re on.”
So one of the scientists bent over to grab some of the dirt, and God says, “Wait just a minute. You go make your own dirt.”
Guys, we can’t even make dirt, for crying out loud!
We can’t touch His creative and protective power, amen?
Well, if God is able to create the universe, then it stands to reason that He can do a bunch of stuff, wouldn’t you say?
Cuz’ I don’t know about you, but my God’s a big ol’ God! And He’s so big that…
II. He can handle the world’s political system.
Isaiah 40:22-24 says this:
He sits enthroned above the circle of the earth, and its people are like grasshoppers.
He stretches out the heavens like a canopy, and spreads them out like a tent to live in.
23 He brings princes to naught and reduces the rulers of this world to nothing.
24 No sooner are they planted, no sooner are they sown, no sooner do they take root in the ground, than he blows on them and they wither, and a whirlwind sweeps them away like chaff.
Guys, I was just sick about how Christians were panicking at last year’s presidential election.
I mean, I was just slack-jawed. Men of God convinced the end of the world was coming if Al Gore got elected.
I was thrilled with the election of our president, and right now I can’t think of a better guy to be in the White House, but folks, think for a moment:
If the election had gone the other way, would God still have been God?
Would He still be the one who puts up one ruler and takes down another?
Would He still be the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords?
Of course He would!
Powerful rulers don’t scare God. Scripture says that he laughs at the plans of men because He knows they are futile.
We don’t need to worry so much about the White House.
Cuz’ I don’t know about you, but my God’s a big ol’ God! In fact, He’s so big that…
III. He can triumph over evil.
Obviously, we have been through one of the most horrific events in our nation’s history, and it’ll take years, maybe decades to heal from it.
And the question comes, “Why doesn’t God do something about it?”
My friends, God is doing something about it, you can be sure. And we will never know all that is going on until we are in heaven.
But Proverbs 17:5 says that…
whoever gloats over disaster will not go unpunished.
The attacks will not go unpunished, either, believe me.
I heard Dr. Norman Geisler discuss why God doesn’t destroy evil. He said that evil can be compared to rust.
Rust does not exist by itself. It’s part of the metal. Without metal you cannot have rust.
Evil is like that. It does not exist on its own. It’s part of something. It’s part of us. The source of evil is not Satan, it is our free will, used by the Enemy to tempt us to sin.
To destroy rust, you have to destroy the metal. To destroy evil, God would have to destroy each of us.
But that’s not God’s plan. I’m going to describe some of the plan later, but for now you need to know that while God won’t destroy evil, He will ultimately triumph over it.
And that is something to look forward to.
Cuz’ I don’t know about you, but my God’s a big ol’ God! He’s so big that…
IV. He can heal our land.
Most of us are all familiar with 2 Chronicles 7:14, but allow me to read it again for remembrance sake.
if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.
I want to point out something here that others have pointed out before me:
This passage is directed to those who call themselves followers of God Almighty.
That would be you and me, if you have Christ as your Savior.
If you want this land to be healed like I do, then join with me in crying out to God for forgiveness for we who call on Him yet don’t live for Him.
Jesus asked the question, “Why do you call me Lord, Lord, and don’t do what I say?”
Hello! Can you say, “hypocrite?”
If we want real revival and healing for this great country, it needs to begin in the church of God!
WE need to turn our faces to Him. WE need to humble ourselves. WE need to pray and seek His face. WE need to turn from our wicked ways.
It begins with us. Don’t expect the world to do it. We need to do it, and then God can work to bring glory to Himself by using clean vessels to carry His message of salvation in Christ throughout America and around the world.
And He can do it, guys, cuz’ I don’t know about you, but my God is a big ol’ God! Guys , He’s so big…
V. He can save mankind.
We all know John 3:16:
"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
But the passage doesn’t end there. Check out verse 17:
17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.
Now isn’t that cool? Sometimes we Christians do such a good job telling people they’re going to hell that we forget to tell them that God provided a way out!
There is a hell, by the way, and it will be unspeakably horrible, but God has provided a way to spend eternity in unspeakable glory through His Son Jesus Christ.
The Bible says that the wages of sin is death. That’s what we deserve because of our sinfulness. We deserve to die and spend eternity away from God, suffering.
But Jesus said, “Hey, I’ve got an idea. How about instead of you dying, I’ll die.”
And so He did, taking your sins and mine to the cross to pay our penalty.
Then He rose from the grave, conquering sin and death so you and I can spend eternity in heaven.
At the end of the message, I am going to give you the opportunity to take what Christ did for you and make it personal, so you can leave here tonight knowing you will be in heaven when you leave this earth.
Because He not only can save all of mankind, He died to save you and you and you and you and me.
But wait! There’s more!
Hebrew 7:25 says this:
Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them.
God doesn’t just save us somewhat. He didn’t kinda save us. He doesn’t just save us a little bit. He doesn’t save us halfway. He saves us completely. And that is something to shout about, folks!
Man, I love that! And here’s something else tucked away in that verse – He lives to pray for us.
Now that’s awesome.
In Brookings, there is a lady named Ellene Jensen. We named our youngest daughter after her. But everyone just calls her Mrs. J.
Anyway, if she is praying for you, you could just count on it being a done deal. I mean, she has the ear of God like few people have. And just knowing that she is praying for my family and ministry here is an honor.
But as much as I am honored and comforted by knowing I am on Mrs. J’s prayer list, it can’t compare to being on Jesus’ prayer list, amen?
It’s one thing to know someone godly is praying for you, but it’s quite another to have the Lord Jesus praying for you.
Here’s the Savior, the Son of God, praying for me. And you.
Conclusion
Let’s wrap this up, shall we?
I mentioned that I was told revival was the theme for tonight, and that I feel revival begins by getting a better grasp on God.
So my message was an attempt to jump-start us to a better grasp.
When many people think of revival, they think of large evangelistic campaigns, and people coming to Christ left and right.
That’s how they define revival. Well, that may be one way to measure revival, but it won’t happen until we as a church fall in love with God again.
And that takes time and effort. Spending time with a big ol’ God who loves li’l ol’ me helps me fall in love with Him more.
When you’re in love with someone, you can’t help talking about the one you’re in love with, can you?
Think about it, guys. When you were dating your wife, you couldn’t spend enough time with her, could you? And you couldn’t shut up about her, could you?
You’d be eating a pizza with your buddies, and someone would say, “that’s a mighty fine pizza, boy!”
And you would say something real classy like, “You know that reminds me of my girlfriend. She’s mighty fine, too. Did I tell you what she said the other day…”
Your friends are about to throw you into the trunk of the car so they won’t have to listen to you anymore.
Now I’m not saying we need to be annoying about our talk concerning Christ, but folks, I dare say we have a shortage of people who love the Lord so much they can’t help but talk about Him.
How about you? Are you willing to let God work in you so you can love Him more and more, so you can tell others about Him more and more?
When more of God’s people fall more deeply in love with Him, forsaking the world, then watch Him work as He uses you and me to bring many people to Christ. And the harvest will be plentiful, amen?
He’s ready, He’s willing, and He’s able. And you know why? Cuz my God’s a big ol’ God.
I’m going to pray now, and if you would like to trust Christ as your Savior, so you can leave here tonight with the assurance of going to heaven, then you pray along with me. Don’t put it off.
Billy Graham said that none of the people on board those planes that were hijacked thought that it would be their last day on earth.
I pray that you will have many days and years left, but there’s no guarantee of that.
Take care of heaven tonight, won’t you?
After I am done with that prayer, I will dismiss us with a closing prayer and you will be free to go.
Shall we pray.
