Stonebriar Community Church
Rev.Scott Ptak
Sermon Outline
November 10, 2002
“So, What are you waiting for?”
Introduction
One of the things I’ve long realized the potential for, but have recently felt in my own life on an ever-growing scale, is my disconnection and waning passion regarding some things I once held very dear.
It’s not been done with any malice, or unfortunately even with any real thought…it just sort of crept-up on me. I, and in all likelihood you, am finding in certain areas of my life that I have become unknowingly contented with just getting by. Kind of floating down the river of life at the mercy of the currents and the winds. I find that discontenting, and, at times, very frustrating.
I sense that it’s not really that our standards have changed, or that striving for excellence in how we do things has any less of a priority, it just that we have become overwhelmed with the demands on our lives to the point that, sometimes, just getting by is the best we can offer.
As I look into your faces today I know the nature of some of your lives. The demands, the pressures, the great desire to do well, and the frustration of being unable to fulfill that desire because of life’s demands. Sometimes the demands that I speak of are good things: Ministries, providing for your family, raising your children, relationships, necessary recreation. But often, even in those important areas of our lives, we have settled for just getting by.
As you know, the Bible is a practical book of answers to real-life problems. It is God’s instruction manual on how to “do life.” It is as relevant today in the lives of believers as the day of its inspiration by the Holy Spirit. So, if we’re using practical truths, our application needs to be practical as well. In my mind, it does us no good to hear something on Sunday that we cannot use from Monday to Saturday. God’s way of doing things should be a 24 hour, seven day a week practical application.
Given that, I’d like to speak with you today about four areas in our lives where our passions must be engaged again to reach the potential God has for us. Where “just getting by” will no longer be an option. Where the desire to engage these areas with passion will produce the excellence that removes the frustrations you and I feel when we know we’ve done it halfway. You need to hear what I’m saying this morning. This is not an exercise in trying harder or jumping through some religious hoops. We cannot do this for ourselves. Our skill-set will not accomplish this, nor will or self-determination. This is about God reordering and rekindling our passions. This is clearly a “God-thing.”
I have learned that “just getting by” in these areas has long-lasting negative consequences that will not only impact the quality of our lives, but will also rob us of the joy that God has for each of us.
Body of Sermon
The sermon today is titled “So, What are you waiting for?” It applies to four areas of our lives that I believe God has called us to step out with faith, passion, and a full engagement. Those areas are:
1) Our Spiritual Lives
2) Our Relationships
3) Our Work Lives
4) Our Recreation
I have come to realize that the time I have here on earth is, according to James, nothing but a vapor, a morning fog. Listen to the words of God in James 4:13-16:
“Look here, you people who say, "Today or tomorrow we are going to a certain town and will stay there a year. We will do business there and make a profit." 14 How do you know what will happen tomorrow? For your life is like the morning fog--it’s here a little while, then it’s gone. 15 What you ought to say is, "If the Lord wants us to, we will live and do this or that."
It stands to reason that if we do not know how long God intends for us to live, and that we have no choice in the matter, then the life He does give us must be lived with passion. For the sake of common understanding, let’s look at the definition of the word “passion.” Webster’s dictionary defines passion this way: “Strong, deep, often uncontrollable feeling, especially, love, hatred, or anger.” According to the dictionary, being passionate is being excitable, strong or vehement, as a feeling or emotion.” Now that we have a common understanding, let’s take a look at that first area in our lives.
Our Spiritual Lives
One of the passions that can get lost or misplaced over time is our passion for God. I don’t mean that we don’t love Him or pray to Him, or even worship Him. It’s the manner in which we do those things. In talking with many people over the years I have found that, unless you are intentional, the longer you have been a Christian the easier it is to lose your passion for God.
It sounds as if it should be the opposite doesn’t it. I mean, the longer we’ve known Him, the more we’ve seen His hand at work in our lives, the more we’ve studied His face, the better we know His nature and character. But we have grown comfortable with God, too comfortable sometimes, in my opinion. We wear God like our most comfortable pair of jeans. We’ve broken Him in to suit our individual bodies, and now whenever we “put Him on” we know exactly what to expect.
God doesn’t operate like that. He is a God of surprises. He will sneak-up and catch us and overwhelm us with His love and His grace and His power. The trouble with comfortable is that it never allows us to be surprised. We think we know what to expect. Listen to the words of God in the Book of the Revelation chapter 3, verses 15-16:
"I know all the things you do, that you are neither hot nor cold. I wish you were one or the other! 16 But since you are like lukewarm water, I will spit you out of my mouth! NLT
It is God’s desire that we be passionate for Him. That we pursue Him with every fiber of our being. That we will not settle for being comfortable or lukewarm. God is passionate about you and me. He was passionate enough about us to give the life of His Son. When was the last time you had a “strong, deep, often uncontrollable feeling” towards God.
I have seen that one of the reasons people seem to lose their passion for God is because they don’t know His will for their lives. They struggle for years trying to determine His ministry calling for them. They wrestle and then they give up. Here’s a practical truth. If you are unsure what God’s will is for your life, what your ministry is, then be passionate about what we already know about God’s will. Many times we pray over and over about this issue and we reach a point of paralysis. We don’t seem to know what His will is for us, so we do nothing. That has got to be one of the most foolish things we could do.
What are some areas where we do know God’s will? His desire for us to reach the world with the message of His love and salvation; His desire that we should minister to those around us; His desire for us to engage in the study of His word; His desire for us to love one another unconditionally. There is no mistake that these areas are God’s will. We do not need to pray about it, we just need to be passionate about them, and then get off our backsides and go do it.
Listen to God’s Word in Exodus 14:15:
“Then the LORD said to Moses, "Why are you crying out to me? Tell the people to get moving!”
The children of God already knew God’s will for them. It was that they would be saved from the enemy. Yet, rather than do what God had told them to do, they continued to pray to him, I guess hoping He’d change His mind and give them something more to their liking. Doesn’t that sound familiar? Sometimes is not a matter of knowing God’s will, it’s a matter of obedience in doing it. We cannot wait around and store our passions until God gives us something we like better. If it’s His will, we’d better engage and be passionate about it.
Get up! Get moving! Get it in gear! Life is more fun when you’re fully engaged. There’s no half-stepping, no waffling, it’s not about being lukewarm, or about being comfortable. It’s about being passionate and about giving yourself completely over to someone who will not break your heart, will not take advantage of you, and who loves you unconditionally. If that doesn’t crank your tractor I don’t know what will.
Over the next few weeks we’ll be talking about the remaining three areas of our lives that uncontrollable passion needs to be restored. I can’t wait.
Let’s pray.
© 2002 Scott Ptak, All Right Reserved.
