What's Your Answer Series

Sunday Morning May 24, 2009 Bel Aire Baptist Church

Series: “Moving With God (Exodus)” [#20]

WHAT’S YOUR ANSWER?

Exodus 19:1-19

Introduction:

On this Memorial Day Weekend, the summer season is upon us. With that in mind, maybe we should adjust our church schedule. I’m thinking we will cancel church each Sunday and you can mail your tithes and offerings in. What do you think? Why would I say something like this? Why do many churches in our nation actually do this? The reality of the summer time is- We take a vacation from church. Please understand that I’m not complaining about people taking vacations and time away; we all need to do that. What I’m talking about is our attitude that since attendance is down, things are not as consistent, etc… that there is no need to do anything until school is back in session. The question today is simply, “Why do we come to this place”? I don’t know about you, but I need God as much right now as I have ever needed Him. Do we want God to intervene in our lives or not?

Exodus 19:1-8

If your answer is yes then you need to…

1. Look back.

Stop right now and remember what God has already done in your life. Write it down.

Exodus 19:4

When a young eagle learns to fly the mother eagle often flies just underneath the baby eagle with her wings spread out to support and catch if needed. What a great picture of God’s faithfulness! Always ready to be there in a time of need to support us when we are in trouble.

If your answer is yes then you need to…

2. Look ahead.

Exodus 19:5-6

Now remember who God says this to. He is speaking to people who had been slaves less than 3 months before. They were nobodies; and all of a sudden God says, “You are my treasured possession.”

As God’s child…

> You are His treasured possession.

The truth about that is that some of us really just have a hard time believing that God thinks about us in that way. You might look around and say about some people, “I can understand why God would feel that way about them. They are gifted, they are talented, they got it all together, etc… But me? Please- How could God feel that way about me? Look at my past- Look at my present- I’m just a huge mess. There’s no way he could feel that way about me!” I’m here to tell you the truth this morning- He does! You are valuable to Him! You matter to Him!

As God’s child…

> You are a priest.

1 Peter 2:9 (NIV)

“But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.”

A priest…

* Has direct access to God.

* Represents God to the people.

* Dedicates themselves to a life of serving God.

If your answer is yes then you need to…

3. Look around.

Exodus 19:8

How did the people respond? That’s right- Together. I want you to understand something this morning: We are more than just a collection of individual Christians who happen to come together for worship at the same time on the same day. We are a community. We are a family. We are a church. We are the body of Christ. Paul says in Romans 12 that each part belongs to the other. You and I are connected.

If your answer is yes then you need to…

4. Look in.

Exodus 19:10-11

There are 3 practical things right here that we can do to prepare ourselves to meet with God.

> Set aside time.

God told them to set aside the next 3 days and get ready. Folks, we are going to have to set aside some time for preparation. If not, it will simply not happen.

> Take inventory.

When a business does an inventory in a way it’s a reality check. It’s saying, “Here’s what we have and here’s what we don’t have.” I want to ask you to do the same thing spiritually. I want you to take a spiritual inventory. What’s that? It’s an honest assessment of where you are spiritually. It’s asking and answering the hard question: “Where am I with the Lord right now in my own relationship with Him?” Take some time to do that right now. To help you, ask yourself: Is there anything blocking my relationship with God? Is there some sin I have been clinging to? Have I drifted?

> Pray diligently.

If your answer is yes then you need to…

5. Look up.

Exodus 19:17

Get ready for a God encounter because quite often, the most life altering encounters with God require us to leave the routine, the comfortable and the familiar. Imagine the scene standing in front of Mount Sinai! 2 million people men and women, children alike and the Bible says that God came down!