Sunday, July 19, 2015

Message today at NRN =- Writing my life story Pt 4 I decided to GO






Intro:  "Words fill a page.  Pages fill a chapter.  Chapters fill a book.  Every decision big and small writes the story of your life.  Unfortunately, some people leave portions of their story unwritten.  Sometimes, that's why you need to go ahead and take the risk.  My story -- I decided to GO."

Today, we are concluding a four-week message series called "My Story."    

If you missed previous weeks, let me bring you up to speed.  We're all embracing the reality that we are creating our life stories, that one day we're going to tell stories about our lives.  And the good news is that many of you, a few years from now, you're going to tell a story about this chapter of your life, and you're going to have a story that you're really proud to tell.

So, in this series, we're making four decisions.

Week Number 1: I decided to start a discipline that would help us to live the story God wants us to tell. 

Week Number 2: I decided to stop anything that would hinder our story from being what it should be. 

Last week: I decided to stay the course when it would be easier to throw in the towel, to quit, to walk away because God will often call you to stay.

We might have made some decisions that we regret and there may be a chapter of our life where we really don't want to tell that story.   The decision is up to you. In fact, the key thought for this series if you're taking notes -- our key thought is this:


The decisions you make TODAY determine the stories that you tell TOMORROW. Let's all say that aloud.  The decisions that you make today determine the stories that you tell tomorrow.

In this series, we're asking 2 BIG questions: 

·       "How do we live a story worth telling?"
·       “How do we live the story that God wants us to tell?”


 And we believe the answer is found in Hebrews Chapter 12:2

Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith…                                                            Hebrews 12:2


Today, in this chapter of your life, some of you, you're going to sense that there's something new that needs to take place. 
For others of you, it will be later on in life in a future chapter, but you're going to suddenly realize, "Man, I'm supposed to take a new step of faith.  I'm supposed to venture out.  There's something new, there's something different, there's something that I didn't expect.  And somehow, I just know that there's something more that I'm supposed to do."  When you get to that place -- here's a key thought if you're taking notes -- and that is:


 Sometimes, the best decision you can make is to GO when it would be easier to STAY. 

Sometimes, the best decision you can make is to follow the hunch, to take the step of faith, to go when it would be easier to play it safe and live in your comfort zone.


ILL:  When God moved us from NC to Northern Va.   April 1981


That decision to GO – has direct correlation on the decision to be here today. It was a combination of decisions to GO from different ministry positions that over 8 years ago - God directed Sharron and I to move to North Carolina and God open the door of opportunity to minister at North Raleigh Church of the Nazarene.
Today, we're going to seek Jesus to see when he calls us to go when it would be so much easier to play it safe.  And the Old Testament story I want to use today that illustrates this perfectly is the story about Abram who later became Abraham. 

Here is his story:

The Lord had said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s family.  Go to the land I will show you.                       Genesis 12:1

This seems obvious, but I want to go ahead and say it.  And that is, "to go somewhere else, you have to leave where you are."  To go somewhere else, you have to leave what's known, what's comfortable, what's predictable and what's easy.


Let me say it this way:  To step toward your destiny, you might have to step away from your security.


God gives Abram a great promise:

“I will make you into a great nation. And I will bless you. I will make your name great.  You will be a blessing to others. I will bless those who bless you. I will put a curse on  anyone who puts a curse on you. All nations on earth will be blessed because of you.”                                                                                                    Genesis 12:2-3


We are not changed by the promises we make to God, we are changed by believing the promises made by God.   

Abram trusted God –

So Abram went, just as the Lord had told him. Lot went with him. Abram was 75 years old when he left Harran.                                                       Genesis 12:4


I'm telling you, there are untold consequences that would be different if Abram didn't have the faith to obey God.

I'm here to tell somebody, "There's going to come a chapter in your life when you sense there's something new, something different and to go where you believe you're supposed to go, you're going to have to leave where you are and if you don't have the faith to do it, but instead by fear, you don't, you have no idea the blessings you'll miss if you don't obey."  You have no ideas what you might miss out on if you don't obey.  Sometimes, the best decision you can make is to go when it would be easier to stay.

This leads me to ask the BIG question I have asked each week for the past 3 weeks - you know what I am going to ask:


        WHAT DOES GOD WANT YOU TO WANT?

And I promise you, every single one of you, if you just take a step back from your life, and if you look at It from a broader picture, you know there's something that should be different for your story to be what God would want it to be.  What does God want to you want?
Now, based on what God wants you to want:


WHERE DOES GOD WANT YOU TO GO?  In other words:

WHAT STEP OF FAITH DO YOU NEED TO TAKE? 

Based on the story that God wants you to tell, what step of faith do you need to take so your story will be what God wants it to be?  Based on what God wants you to want, what step of faith do you need to take to get what God wants you to want? I want you to think about it because it could change your life when one day you decide to go when it would be easier to stay.


Let me be clear about something:

·       I am NOT telling you to leave your marriage – every marriage is worth a committed love that is in a relationship with God – a three stringed cord is difficult to break.

·       I am NOT telling you to leave your job - seek God and ask for His divine guidance through His Holy Spirit to be clear for a decision like that.

·       I am NOT telling you to leave our church and follow the path of many today who love God but have little commitment or dedication to the church – which Christ loved and gave His life for. God created us for community and Church is more important in your spiritual life that I could possibly explain.
I AM SAYING – Based on what God wants you to do – what step of faith do you need to take to receive God’s best for your life?     


But you may say, "But I don't have the faith to finish the journey"; that's the great news.  You don't have to have faith to finish, you just have to have the faith to start.  You just have to have the faith to take the first step.


By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going.      Hebrews 11:8


Second Example:  Moses


So now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt."  But Moses said to God, “Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?"                                                               Exodus 3:10-11


Moses said to the Lord, "O Lord, I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant. I am slow of speech and tongue." The Lord said to him, "Who gave man his mouth? Who makes him deaf or mute? Who gives him sight or makes him blind? Is it not I, the Lord?  Now go; I will help you speak and will teach you what to say."                                                 Exodus 4:1-12


What I want to do today is I want to ask all of you  that when that time comes, when you sense that it's God, I want to ask that you commit today, whenever it is, to go, even when it would be easier to stay.  Then, I believe when that times comes, that the Holy Spirit will remind you of this moment, and will help build your faith.  And you'll say, "yes, God, even though I don't know, I will go when it's easier to stay."


Without faith it is impossible to please God. Those who come to God must believe that he exists. And they must believe that he rewards those who look to him.                                                                                                              Hebrews 11:6



PRAYER:  "Heavenly Father, I give you my life.  I am a sinner and I need a savior.  Jesus, save me.  Make me new.  Fill me with your spirit so my story could be your story. Thank you for new life.  Today, I give you mine in Jesus name I pray Amen!   




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