Seismic Shifts
Session 3 “From Me to God”
RBW (inspired from “seismic shifts” book)
Introduction:
+ Seismic Promo Video Clip
Congregational Reading:
+Isaiah 6:1-3 (NIV)
1 In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted, and the train of his robe filled the temple. 2 Above him were seraphs, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. 3 And they were calling to one another: “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory.”
John 3:30 (NIV)
30 He must become greater; I must become less.
+Hebrews 12:1-3 (NIV)
1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. 2 Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3 Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.
Recap:
+Our first shift, “from doing to being” helps us to focus the priority of our lives on this inward journey… It starts with who God has made us to be. Then, it reaches outward into what we can do to represent God in this world we’re in. But, we’ll never be successful at showing God to the world, unless we’ve started with this work of becoming apart from the world’s expectations.
+Our second shift, “from somberness to celebration” reminds us that this life of becoming is not a drag, it’s not to be lived in drudgery, but our becoming through all this life’s situations is exciting because we can’t wait to see who God is making us to be. Prayer warriors, encouragers, mentors, ministers of faith, we give thanks, we dance, we sing, we celebrate this journey that we’ve begun with God.
This week our author reminds us that for the first two small shifts to have their ultimate, lasting, impacting affect on our lives, we must shift our focus + “from ourselves to God.” None of this shifting does much good for us spiritually if we’re still just focused on us.
You can pick up the phone and talk all you want, but unless you dial a number you’re just talking to yourself.
Illustration: The other day I was in line in a store and a +lady walked in behind me just talking away… she was alone… she wasn’t talking to me… and no one else was around her. I thought+Thorazine drip.
Then I saw the wireless Bluetooth in her ear. She had a goofy grin like I’m not crazy and she motioned to the ear piece. 10 years ago, government dollars and prescribed pharmaceuticals would be helping this girl have a better life. For us to experience real change, lasting change, big change… God must be an integral part of the process or we’re just standing alone, talking to ourselves, waiting for medication.
+The type of spiritual life that will have a greater impact on our daily lives must have an effect on our moment by moment relationship with God if we’re going to become deeper people, if we’re truly looking for transformation in life, if we’re truly allowing God to fashion us into His disciples. If we truly want change.
Before we look at the “how to’s” of our shift right here this morning, I want to point out some interesting observations that have recently been made concerning a global perspective shift.
+There is a world-wide shift going on that is making people bigger and God smaller. It’s all around us.
In the Middle East ... In Iraq Sunnis and Shiites who share the same religion, Islam, have made God so small that neither sect recognized the other as brothers and sisters in faith. In Afghanistan, the Taliban have made God small enough to justify a harsh religious dictatorship. In India, the Kashmir rebel’s world has become small enough to cause bombs to be planted on trains a couple of months ago in Mumbai. In the Congo, In Somalia, in Chechnya, and in other places to numerous to list, God has been miniaturized and people are dying violent deaths ever day.
North Korea has nuclear weapons, a million member army, a missile program and the people of Japan are rightfully anxious because of all that. Japan is the only nation in history to have experienced nuclear war firsthand. How much smaller does the world have to make God before Japan becomes the first, not the last? In the last month our government has exposed two terrorist plots; one targeting New York, the other Chicago. The people arrested in those two plots have made God small enough to justify blowing up tunnels and buildings.
+My doctor prescribed me glasses for driving at night because my sight has adjusted so that now objects at a distance have become blurred. My sight has become Myopic.
Webster’s defines Myopia as+ “a visual defect in which distant objects appear blurred because their images are focused in front of the retina rather that on it; i.e. nearsightedness.
+ This world has become nearsighted! We as a race are focusing more and more on how everything affects us. And in doing so, we’ve blurred and miniaturized God! + We have Spiritual Myopia!
The Church is not immune to this spiritual eye disease: + Statistics in England show that only 7.5% of adults regularly attend church. It’s 14% in Germany. It’s less than 5% in Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Finland. Church doors are shutting at an alarming rate around the world. It’s estimated that by the year 2030, the Christian church will cease to exist in England as a viable institution.
+ So, what’s going on? And why is this important for our study today? People’s faith in God is shrinking worldwide. And for us to make this next seismic shift we must learn to focus on God.
In our congregational reading we read important words from John the Baptist,
+ John 3:30 (NIV)
30 He must become greater; I must become less.
This is the shift we’re talking about. + “From Us to God.”
Jesus said in +Matthew 17:19-20 (NIV)
19 Then the disciples came to Jesus in private and asked, “Why couldn’t we drive it out?” 20 He replied, “Because you have so little faith. I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”
I like the way the Message puts it,
+Matthew 17:19-20 (The Message)
19 When the disciples had Jesus off to themselves, they asked, “Why couldn’t we throw it out?” 20 “Because you’re not yet taking God seriously,” said Jesus. “The simple truth is that if you had a mere kernel of faith, a poppy seed, say, you would tell this mountain, ‘Move!’ and it would move. There is nothing you wouldn’t be able to tackle.”
+Mark 9:19-23 (NIV)
19 “O unbelieving generation,” Jesus replied, “how long shall I stay with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring the boy to me.” 20 So they brought him. When the spirit saw Jesus, it immediately threw the boy into a convulsion. He fell to the ground and rolled around, foaming at the mouth. 21 Jesus asked the boy’s father, “How long has he been like this?” “From childhood,” he answered. 22 “It has often thrown him into fire or water to kill him. But if you can do anything, take pity on us and help us.” 23 “‘If you can’?” said Jesus. “Everything is possible for him who believes.”
+Mark 9:23 (The Message)
23 Jesus said, “If? There are no ‘ifs’ among believers. Anything can happen.”
+Luke 1:37 (NIV)
37 For nothing is impossible with God.”
Luke 18:27 (NIV)
Here Jesus is asked Who can be saved? 27 Jesus replied, “What is impossible with men is possible with God.”
Luke 18:27 (The Message)
27 “No chance at all,” Jesus said, “if you think you can pull it off by yourself. Every chance in the world if you trust God to do it.”
+We go from looking at God through a magnifying glass because He’s so small to us, +to low powered binoculars, +to a high powered telescope because of the infinite, all-surrounding, ever present nature of God in our lives.
It’s at this point in our seismic shifts that we shift from trying to find God in any of our situations in life, to encountering God in every situation in our lives.
How do we make this shift from us to God?
The answer to our question is found by asking this question: +What is God looking for?
+John 4:23 (NIV)
23 Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks.
Did you notice, “they are the kind of worshipers the Father SEEKS”?
God is seeking those who seek… Him. The characteristic of seeking… is one of the very characteristics of God Himself. God’s a seeker! He’s seeking worshipers!
David marks out a prescription of how to develop a shift from the “Us perspective to the God perspective.” Notice the action words, David’s part in Shifting his perspective.
Turn to Psalm 34:
+Psalm 34 (NIV)
1 I will extol the LORD at all times; his praise will always be on my lips.
+To extol = “To kneel down”, “to salute”, “to bend the knee”
+To praise = “to sing a song” (continually)
+ 2 My soul will boast in the LORD; let the afflicted hear and rejoice.
+To boast = Halal, “To Celebrate”
+ 3 Glorify the LORD with me; let us exalt his name together.
+To glorify = (KJV has magnify) “to grow, to make something greater, to make important, to make powerful.”
+To exalt = “to raise up, to lift up, to make something higher, to set up (like an idol or altar),
+ 4 I sought the LORD, and he answered me; he delivered me from all my fears.
+ To Seek = “To enquire, to search, to seek, to study, to follow, to consult.”
“He delivered me” – Then God became bigger than the situation.
+ 5 Those who look to him are radiant; their faces are never covered with shame.
+To Look = “To look at, observe, gaze, implying interpretation and understanding of what is observed. To think about what’s observed.” (Contemplation).
+ 6 This poor man called, and the LORD heard him; he saved him out of all his troubles.
+To Call = “implies a recognized need”
+ 7 The angel of the LORD encamps around those who fear him, and he delivers them.
+To Fear = “To Respect.”
+ 8 Taste and see that the LORD is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in him.
+Taste and see = “to experience” Him in everyday life. Now the affect in everyday life.
+ 9 Fear the LORD, you his saints, for those who fear him lack nothing. 10 The lions may grow weak and hungry, but those who seek the LORD lack no good thing. 11 Come, my children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of the LORD. 12 Whoever of you loves life and desires to see many good days, 13 keep your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking lies. +14 Turn from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it. 15 The eyes of the LORD are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their cry; 16 the face of the LORD is against those who do evil, to cut off the memory of them from the earth. 17 The righteous cry out, and the LORD hears them; he delivers them from all their troubles.
+18 The LORD is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit. 19 A righteous man may have many troubles, but the LORD delivers him from them all; 20 he protects all his bones, not one of them will be broken. +21 Evil will slay the wicked; the foes of the righteous will be condemned. 22 The LORD redeems his servants; no one will be condemned who takes refuge in him.
+God is huge!!!
We move from the “me” who is helpless on our own, + “to God” who can do everything, all the time, without any help, without any reservations, without any restrictions, or fears, or shortcomings, or setbacks…
He is God, He has all strength, all power, all wisdom, He has all the facts and none of the doubts, He knew what you would go through today before this planet was even created.
“Isaiah 6:3 (NIV)
“…Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory.”
Stand with me,
+In the morning say… “It’s not about me, it’s all about Him!”
All through the day say… “It’s not about me, it’s all about Him!”
Before you go to bed at night say… “It’s not about me, it’s all about Him!”
Lord, we join with John and freely admit,
You must become greater, and we must become less!
