Six Prophetic Words: Message 10
INTRODUCTION:
Every great story begins memorably…
• “It was a dark and stormy night…” – Snoopy’s Great American Novel
• “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times…” Dicken’s Tale of Two Cities
• “Life is difficult.” M. Scott Peck The Road Less Travelled
• “There once was a boy named Eustace Clarence Scrubb and he almost deserved it.” C S Lewis - Voyage of the Dawn Treader
• "Call me Ishmael." Herman Melville Moby Dick
• “It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen.” George Orwell, 1984
And – the best tale of them all begins this way…
• “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth….” Genesis 1:1
Good stories touch our hearts.
Why do we care about Star Wars – and the Matrix – and Braveheart – and The Lord of the Rings – and Oprah? Because they tell great stories that touch our hearts.
Stories are bigger than the sum of the facts.
They include feelings, and desperation and hunger and doubt, and fear.
Facts are final. Stories are sticky.
But would you rather read a textbook on ACCOUNTING or a NOVEL about love, death, laughter, grief and triumph?
Stories are very spiritual.
Read the Gospels – Jesus taught in story form. “Parables”… but they are simply stories….
• About brides and grooms
• About trees and fruit
• About coins and pearls and treasures
• About employers and employees
• About sheep and goats
• About planting and harvesting
God wants us to tell great stories.
I want us collectively to tell a story today. In every great story of God’s involvement in our lives there are three parts:
1. The Problem – what I needed God to do.
2. The Provision – what God did do.
3. The Praise – what I’ll do in response.
My story:
In late December – the Lord spoke SIX WORDS to me.
• Faith
• Identity
• Believe
• Miracles
• Miracles
• Testimony
And He told me to preach these words – which I’ve done – today is the 10th message concerning these six words.
We’ve discovered…
• That Faith is a Gift from God
• That Faith results in us having a new IDENTITY
• That our new IDENTITY enables us to take BELIEVING ACTION STEPS
• Which results in God doing MIRACLES in and through us.
• God’s MIRACLES impact others – causing them to look for MIRACLES as well!
• And as we experience all of this – He gives us a TESTIMONY or STORY to tell that brings Him the glory and helps others to seek His Gift of Faith!
Which leads us back to the idea of giving God glory through our TESTIMONY or STORY.
In the Bulletin – there is a section with the three parts of a great story listed.
• PROBLEM
• PROVISION
• PRAISE
NOW – Here’s what we need to do -…
Fill out that little section…
• My PROBLEM was….
• God made PROVISION by doing….
• I will PRAISE HIM by….
As you are doing this – I want to remind you of another story.
There was religious man. Very religious. In fact, He was in the leadership of his church. He knew the rules, the regulations – and he did his best to fulfill them. But, somehow, it wasn’t enough. It didn’t bring him the satisfaction that he expected it to. He was hungry for more.
More came to town in the person of Jesus. And this man was hungry to see if this Jesus was all He said He was. At the same time he didn’t want to burn his bridges with his religious friends. So, late one night, under cover of darkness, he snuck through the back roads of his village in order to have a conversation with Jesus.
“Jesus – I know that you are from God. No-one could do what you are doing unless God were with Him.”
“Nicodemus – you want what I have? You must be born again. It’s time to start over again. Your way will not lead you to life.”
“But, I’m an old man, how can I be ‘born-again’? My mother isn’t going to go for this!”
“Funny. The spiritual life you desire comes from being born twice – first naturally and secondly, spiritually. You need God to give you a spiritual rebirth.”
“Huh?”
“Nicodemus, you are a spiritual leader, but you don’t get this? Listen carefully. I'm speaking sober truth to you. I speak only of what I know by experience; I give witness only to what I have seen with my own eyes. There is nothing secondhand here, no hearsay…”
And then Jesus goes on to tell Nicodemus – and us – God’s exact intentions: (John 3:14ff)
“Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life. “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.” John 3:14-17
God desires to bring us to full and complete restoration – and He does this through Jesus.
Now – I want you to look at John 3:11 – I’ve printed it in your bulletin:
“Listen carefully. I'm speaking sober truth to you. I speak only of what I know by experience; I give witness only to what I have seen with my own eyes. There is nothing secondhand here, no hearsay…” John 3:11 Message Translation
When you give testimony or tell your story, Jesus lays out some important guidelines:
1. It is serious business.
“I’m speaking sober truth to you…”
2. The best stories come from our own experience.
“I speak only of what I know by experience; I give witness only to what I have seen with my own eyes. There is nothing secondhand here, no hearsay…”
With that said – I want to invite you to share your story. To help you be effective in bringing God the glory and in building each other up – I want to encourage you to use the three-part story tool as much as possible.
• Tell us what the PROBLEM was.
• Tell us what God did to make PROVISION.
• Then give PRAISE to God!
And FOR THE LISTENERS: I want you to be active in listening.
• Listen and record what the PROBLEM was.
• Listen and record what God did to make PROVISION.
• Listen and record the PRAISE.
Who’s first?
Every great story begins memorably…
• “It was a dark and stormy night…” – Snoopy’s Great American Novel
• “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times…” Dicken’s Tale of Two Cities
• “Life is difficult.” M. Scott Peck The Road Less Travelled
• “There once was a boy named Eustace Clarence Scrubb and he almost deserved it.” C S Lewis - Voyage of the Dawn Treader
• "Call me Ishmael." Herman Melville Moby Dick
• “It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen.” George Orwell, 1984
And – the best tale of them all begins this way…
• “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth….” Genesis 1:1
Good stories touch our hearts.
Why do we care about Star Wars – and the Matrix – and Braveheart – and The Lord of the Rings – and Oprah? Because they tell great stories that touch our hearts.
Stories are bigger than the sum of the facts.
They include feelings, and desperation and hunger and doubt, and fear.
Facts are final. Stories are sticky.
But would you rather read a textbook on ACCOUNTING or a NOVEL about love, death, laughter, grief and triumph?
Stories are very spiritual.
Read the Gospels – Jesus taught in story form. “Parables”… but they are simply stories….
• About brides and grooms
• About trees and fruit
• About coins and pearls and treasures
• About employers and employees
• About sheep and goats
• About planting and harvesting
God wants us to tell great stories.
I want us collectively to tell a story today. In every great story of God’s involvement in our lives there are three parts:
1. The Problem – what I needed God to do.
2. The Provision – what God did do.
3. The Praise – what I’ll do in response.
My story:
In late December – the Lord spoke SIX WORDS to me.
• Faith
• Identity
• Believe
• Miracles
• Miracles
• Testimony
And He told me to preach these words – which I’ve done – today is the 10th message concerning these six words.
We’ve discovered…
• That Faith is a Gift from God
• That Faith results in us having a new IDENTITY
• That our new IDENTITY enables us to take BELIEVING ACTION STEPS
• Which results in God doing MIRACLES in and through us.
• God’s MIRACLES impact others – causing them to look for MIRACLES as well!
• And as we experience all of this – He gives us a TESTIMONY or STORY to tell that brings Him the glory and helps others to seek His Gift of Faith!
Which leads us back to the idea of giving God glory through our TESTIMONY or STORY.
In the Bulletin – there is a section with the three parts of a great story listed.
• PROBLEM
• PROVISION
• PRAISE
NOW – Here’s what we need to do -…
Fill out that little section…
• My PROBLEM was….
• God made PROVISION by doing….
• I will PRAISE HIM by….
As you are doing this – I want to remind you of another story.
There was religious man. Very religious. In fact, He was in the leadership of his church. He knew the rules, the regulations – and he did his best to fulfill them. But, somehow, it wasn’t enough. It didn’t bring him the satisfaction that he expected it to. He was hungry for more.
More came to town in the person of Jesus. And this man was hungry to see if this Jesus was all He said He was. At the same time he didn’t want to burn his bridges with his religious friends. So, late one night, under cover of darkness, he snuck through the back roads of his village in order to have a conversation with Jesus.
“Jesus – I know that you are from God. No-one could do what you are doing unless God were with Him.”
“Nicodemus – you want what I have? You must be born again. It’s time to start over again. Your way will not lead you to life.”
“But, I’m an old man, how can I be ‘born-again’? My mother isn’t going to go for this!”
“Funny. The spiritual life you desire comes from being born twice – first naturally and secondly, spiritually. You need God to give you a spiritual rebirth.”
“Huh?”
“Nicodemus, you are a spiritual leader, but you don’t get this? Listen carefully. I'm speaking sober truth to you. I speak only of what I know by experience; I give witness only to what I have seen with my own eyes. There is nothing secondhand here, no hearsay…”
And then Jesus goes on to tell Nicodemus – and us – God’s exact intentions: (John 3:14ff)
“Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life. “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.” John 3:14-17
God desires to bring us to full and complete restoration – and He does this through Jesus.
Now – I want you to look at John 3:11 – I’ve printed it in your bulletin:
“Listen carefully. I'm speaking sober truth to you. I speak only of what I know by experience; I give witness only to what I have seen with my own eyes. There is nothing secondhand here, no hearsay…” John 3:11 Message Translation
When you give testimony or tell your story, Jesus lays out some important guidelines:
1. It is serious business.
“I’m speaking sober truth to you…”
2. The best stories come from our own experience.
“I speak only of what I know by experience; I give witness only to what I have seen with my own eyes. There is nothing secondhand here, no hearsay…”
With that said – I want to invite you to share your story. To help you be effective in bringing God the glory and in building each other up – I want to encourage you to use the three-part story tool as much as possible.
• Tell us what the PROBLEM was.
• Tell us what God did to make PROVISION.
• Then give PRAISE to God!
And FOR THE LISTENERS: I want you to be active in listening.
• Listen and record what the PROBLEM was.
• Listen and record what God did to make PROVISION.
• Listen and record the PRAISE.
Who’s first?
posted by Doug Love at 10:41 AM
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