Sharing here a copy of my sermon on “Rediscover”, first of the 3-part series on “Rediscover, Reconnect, Rebuild” during our CG retreat in Langkawi (29-31 Oct 2016).
“REDISCOVER”
By GJ Gonzales, CG Retreat 2016
#Testimony by Anton and Issa
Relate to activity earlier: “Piring (blindfold)”
– Physical hurt, bumped into
– Aimless, purposeless
– Can be frustrating
– Emotional
– Unnecessary pain and trouble
– Weariness
– Worst case: death and destruction
# spiritual eyes
Some things that have blocked our spiritual eyes may have been caused by many factors. They are things we don’t have control over, and sadly, some things we do have control over but we just allow it to. And whether we like it or not, they are blocking our vision of what God has intended for us.
Why is it important for our spiritual eyes to see?
Prov 29:18 AMP Where there is no vision [no revelation of God and His word], the people are unrestrained; But happy and blessed is he who keeps the law [of God].
Proverbs 29:18 New Life Version (NLV)
18 Where there is no understanding of the Word of the Lord, the people do whatever they want to, but happy is he who keeps the law.
What does God want us to REDISCOVER in this season?
1. LOVE
a. Rediscover the love OF GOD
The Bible says that “God is love.”
1 John 4:8 He who does not love does not know God, for God is love.
– He is love means He cannot love you less or more. He Himself is love.
Sometimes when we go through a tough patch in life, we tend to question the love of God towards us.
Thoughts like,
“Where was God when I needed Him most?”
“Would God still love me after all I’ve done?”
Psalms 103:11
For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is His love for those who fear Him;
b. Rediscover our love FOR GOD
1 John 4:19 We love Him because He first loved us.
# backslidden me
Rev 2:4 Nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left your first love. 5 Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works…
# First love, first works
– how were we when we first got saved?
c. Rediscover the love OF PEOPLE
Different people have different ways of loving. Different ways of receiving love and different ways of expressing love.
Gary Chapman talks about the 5 love languages:
1. Words of affirmation
2. Acts of service
3. Receiving / giving gifts
4. Quality time
5. Physical touch
Since we are unique beings, we also don’t have the same love languages.
There are times we doubt people’s love towards us because it’s not expressed the way we expect them to. But when we take the time and have an open heart to look beyond the surface, we’ll actually see LOVE tucked in.
ACTIVITY: “Love Language”
– Write down your top 2 love languages (receiving and giving)
Receiving: I feel most loved by..
Giving: I usually express it through…
d. Rediscover your love FOR PEOPLE
Sometimes we tend to bury love because we were hurt or been failed by someone. We’d rather withhold love than get hurt or disappointed again.
But that’s not the way God wants us to do.
Obedience by Faith
1 John 4:20 If someone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen? 21 And this commandment we have from Him: that he who loves God must love his brother also.
The love of Christ compels us…
2 Corinthians 5:14-15
14 For the love of Christ compels us, because we judge thus: that if One died for all, then all died; 15 and He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again.
The two greatest commandments are:
1. Love God wholeheartedly – heart, mind, soul and strength
2. Love people fervently
Matt 22:37 Jesus said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and great commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’
But how does the Bible describe LOVE?
1 Cor 13:4 Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; 5 does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; 6 does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; 7 bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. 8a “Love never fails.”
When we find it hard to love, God’s help is available to us. But it first starts as a DECISION. We need to choose to love. Tell your neighbor, “We got to choose love.” Tell the other person, “I choose love.”
Rom 5:5 Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.
– With the Holy Spirit’s help, we can afford to love. We can afford to forgive. We can afford to forget. Let’s altogether rediscover the LOVE of God, our LOVE for God, the LOVE of people and our LOVE for people by God’s help. Let’s choose love.
2. GOODNESS
a. The goodness of God
Psalms 23:6
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me All the days of my life; And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.
– ‘Surely’ implies certainty. There is a guarantee!
– We may not always see it in front of our natural eyes because of what we’re going through but when we look back, reflect and begin to thank God, we’ll see that all this time goodness and mercy has been following us.
Psalm 34:8
Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good; Blessed is the man who trusts in Him!
– something tangible, can be experienced
God is good, all the time!
When there is TRUST, it causes us to see how good our God is.
# kid jumping into the pool to his dad
But what can we do to intentionally see the goodness of God?
1. Praise, it is vocal
– Psalms, songs of God’s greatness and goodness
– Praise God for the wonders of nature, such mighty force that created it!
2. Thanksgiving – in our prayers, in our thoughts
– brings out the not-so-obvious and the taken for granted
– in advance for the things to come
– Find it!
– Magnify it!
– Celebrate it!
# thanking in advance
b. The goodness of people
As human as we are, we tend to make a big deal out of something that’s done wrong more than that which was done right.
– Bad news sell, good news are boring
– 9 out of 10 were good, 1 was bad à cancels out everything
1 Cor 13:5b [Love] keeps no record of being wronged. 6 It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. 7 Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.
– Always believes the good in people; More often than not, you will find what you’re looking for. If you want to find the good in people, you’ll find it!
– “Beauty and The Beast” or “Everything About Her (Vilma Santos and Angel Locsin)”
# our bosses, our colleagues, our partner
God wants us to rediscover His goodness and the goodness of people. The 3rd thing is…
God wants us to rediscover in this season of our lives is PURPOSE.
3. PURPOSE
Purpose answers the question “Why?”
# kids asking endless why’s
As adults we seldom ask why.
– “What do you do?”
– “Where are you going next?”
It takes process for us to discover and rediscover the why’s of our lives, the purpose for the things we do and become.
We can learn from the men in the Bible who rediscovered God’s wonderful plan and purpose for their lives:
1. Joseph – bullied by brothers, sold as a slave, abandoned by his family, framed up by boss’ wife, suffered imprisonment, forgotten by a friend… Tough to understand why! But God had a plan and purpose for his life!
Gen 50:19 Joseph said to them, “Do not be afraid, for am I in the place of God? 20 But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for
good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive.
– Joseph was promoted as he stayed faithful to God. During his time he was #2 man in the whole kingdom of Egypt next to pharaoh.
2. David – shepherd boy, neglected by family, sent out in exile despite faithfully serving the king.. Again, natural minds couldn’t conceive why would God anoint him yet let him suffer? But God had a plan and purpose for his life!
His 12 years of waiting before becoming king was not in vain. It was during this time he wrote the book of psalms that remain til this day.
And because of how David responded to God despite his shortcoming, he lived to be one of Israel’s greatest kings and not only that, God calls him a
“man after His own heart.”
Only God can turn your MESS into a MESSAGE, a TEST into a TESTIMONY, your TRIAL into TRIUMPH, a VICTIM into VICTORY
3. Jesus – He did nothing wrong in His lifetime. He cared for people, taught them the Kingdom of God, served them the best of His ability. He loved them despite being mocked at. Jesus would have given up. His anguish and pain was so excruciating. He would have come to God the Father and screamed, “Why are you being so unfair?! Why do I have to go through this for these wicked people?” But look how He responded..
Luke 22:42 saying, “Father, if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me; nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done.” 43 Then an angel appeared to Him from heaven, strengthening Him.
Jesus knows His surrender and obedience is achieving far greater. So despite of what He’s going through and how He is feeling, He just keeps trusting God’s will and purpose for Him and the world. He took time to rediscover His purpose as the begotten Son of God.
Frustration comes from NOT trusting God’s heart.
– I don’t see God move. I’ll do it my way since things aren’t happening.
Proverbs 19:21 (NIV)
Many are the plans in a person’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails.
– tell your neighbor, “God’s purpose will prevail” and “You will soon get it!”
# CHCtrial
# Transitions in the CG “I don’t get it!”
May our prayers go something like,
“Lord, I don’t understand but I am willing to trust You.”
‘God, Your ways are higher than my ways, Your thoughts deeper than my thoughts.”
“You see the bigger picture. I trust that something good’s going to happen.”
“Your word says, “All things work together for good for those who love You and walk according to Your purpose.”
“Let Your will be done in my life.”
ALTAR CALL
Worship Song / Ministry: “Lord, I Give You My Heart”
1. Worship in song. Rededicate our hearts to God afresh.
– heart can be deceptive, foolish, hardened and blind to God’s love, goodness and purpose.
2. Prayer to REDISCOVER:
a. Love – Decision: Choose to love and forgive. Choose to bear all things, to believe, to hope, to endure.
3. Prayer to rediscover, that of surrender: Open up our eyes to see… Don’t grow weary.. Restored faith
b. Goodness
c. Purpose – “Lord, have Your way in me”
Dear Heavenly Father,
I surrender my heart to You.
Help me rediscover / the real meaning of LOVE.
Open up my eyes to see Your goodness / and the goodness in people
Help me obey / even when I don’t understand
You have a purpose for my life
I want to be faithful to You til the very end
So please, Lord, / have Your way in me
I receive Your grace / that is more than sufficient for me
In Jesus’ name, Amen
