Condoleeze Rice, Sec. of State and advisor to the President, wrote this. “Although I never doubted the existence of God, I think like all people I’ve had some ups and down in my faith. When I first moved to California in 1981 to join the faculty at Stanford, there were a lot of years when I was not attending church regularly. I was traveling a lot. I was always in another time zone overseas. One Sunday I was in Lucky’s Supermarket not far from my house – I will never forget – among the spices, and brown sugar, an African-American man walked up to me and said he was buying some things for his church picnic. He said, “Do you play the piano by the chance?” I said, “Yes.” He said they were looking for someone to play the piano at a little African-American church. I started playing for that church. That got me back into churchgoing. I don’t play gospel very well – I play Brahms – and you know how black ministers will start a song and the musicians will pick it up? I had no idea what I was doing, so I called my mother, who had played for Baptist churches. “Mother, they just start. How am I supposed to do this?” She said, “Honey, play in C and they’ll come back to you.” That’s true. I tell that story because I thought to myself, “My goodness, God has a long reach…I mean, in Lucky’s Supermarket on a Sunday morning.”
How
is your detective work going? Are you filling your evidence notebook? Are you
finding God’s fingerprints on your life?
There are five categories where we might dust for fingerprints:
Pat and I were going to Nashville for a conference. The week before Pat told a client that she was planning to attend a session by Neil Anderson, author of some books she had recommended to the person. The first day of the conference, Pat went into a seminar and looked for a seat. One was opened next to a middle-aged man. As she sat down she noticed his name tag. He was the very same Neil Anderson she planned to hear later in the week. She asked him some questions and they conversed for several minutes. There were 7,000 at the conference and she sat down next to a person she never expected to be able to talk to one-on-one.
Since,
then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where
Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not
on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in
God. Colossians 3:1-3 NIV
God must become our focus. In the film “Out of Africa”, Karen Blixen, was lost on safari as she transported supplies to British officers. She is met by the explorer Denys Finch Hatten. He gives her his compass and says, “Fix a place on the horizon each morning and steer by it. South by southwest. You should get there in about 3 days.” If we are to see God we must fix a spot on the horizon every morning and steer by Him.
Who may climb the
mountain of the Lord? Who may stand in his holy place? Only those whose hands
and hearts are pure, who do not worship idols and never tell lies. Psalm 21:3-4
NLT
God has given us the task of reconciling people to him…We are Christ’s ambassadors, and God is using us to speak to you. II Corinthians 5:18b,19b NLT
We were living in Toronto where I served as President of a small Bible College. I really didn’t see myself as a college president and didn’t plan to stay in that position very long. In fact, I wanted to plant a church in the metropolitan area. But as I approached area believers, none seemed interested. In the summer of 1976 we were making plans to visit Pat’s sister in Arizona and then attend the NACC in Denver. A couple of weeks prior to flying to Arizona, out of the blue, I was contacted by a congregation in Onalaska, WI. Although I didn’t know anyone there and had not indicated to anyone outside our family that I was wondering what God had in mind for the future, they wanted me to get in touch with them. I told them of my plans and they said they would send a packet of information to Arizona. It arrived while we were in Phoenix and it sparked my interest even more. We flew to Denver and the first person we met when we walked into the Convention Center had a name tag on with their name and Onalaska, WI. I asked who they were and it turned out to be the church secretary and her husband! To make a long story short, the next week we flew from Denver to Onalaska, went back to Ontario, drove our family out to WI to see the church, and they invited us to come. We found a prospective home under construction, made an offer on it, and went back to Canada to conclude our ministry there. In less six weeks from the first contact we arrived in WI, all our supporting churches had been contacted, many in person, and our home in Canada was sold. The next five years were some of our best in ministry.
I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves; therefore be shrewd as serpents and innocents as doves…But when they deliver you up, do not become anxious about how or what you will speak; for it shall be given you in that hour what you are to speak. Matthew 10:16,19 NASV
A lady phoned me, “I have a half a
ham, do you know anyone who can use it?” I said bring it over. A few minutes
after the ham was in the church frig a member was in the office. I knew her
husband was hurt, unable to work and I said, “Do you like ham?” She said “we
love it.” “Come with me and I’ll give you some.” There were also some canned goods in a bag
which I gave her.
I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe. Ephesians 1:18,19a NASV
Children may be better at spotting God than adults. Dear God: Why isn’t Mrs. God’s name in the Bible? Weren’t you married to her when you wrote it? Dear God: How come you only have 10 rules and our school has millions? Dear God: There were no clouds Saturday so I think I saw your feet. Did I really?
A father was hearing his 5-yr-old son’s prayers. Afterwards the boy asked, “Does God have legs?” After some discussion, the boy answered his own question. “God doesn’t need legs because anywhere He needs to go He already is.” - A powerful truth!
Tony Campolo was at a worship service when a
man prayed a very pointed prayer for a friend. "Dear Lord, you know
Charlie Stoltzfus. He lives in that silver trailer
down the road a mile. He's leaving his wife and kids. Please do something to
bring the family together."
Amazingly the man repeated the location - "the silver trailer down
the road a mile." Tony wanted to say, "Knock it off, Fella. Do you think God is asking, 'What's that address
again?'" After the prayer, Tony
preached, then left to drive home. On the turnpike he gave a hitchhiker a
lift. "My name's Tony, what's your's?"
"Charlie Stoltzfus," the hitchhiker
said. Campolo was dumbfounded. It was the young man
for whom the prayer was offered. Compolo got off at
the next exit. "Hey, where are you taking me?" asked the hitchhiker.
"Home," Compolo said. The hitchhiker stared
in amazement as Tony drove right to his silver trailer. That afternoon that
young man and his wife surrendered their lives to Christ. And today that hitchhiker is a preacher of
the gospel.
The
truth is, God wants to walk with you in every situation to enable you to meet
life’s challenges and come out a winner. The essence of being a Christian is
allowing the Lord to live out His life through you. As you do so, you will see
His fingerprints everywhere and sense His presence.
How
would your live change if you realized God is present with you every moment?
Become
a God-seeker, a God-finder, a God-showing-it-forth person, a God-lover. Hear His claim on your life and step out in
faith to do what He calls you to do.
The following material is provided to assist you in
application of the sermon. You may go over this individually, share it with a
small group or your family.
OPEN - Share your “story” with some others.
DIG – Look into the Bible’s “story” to discover
insights that will help your understanding.
1. In Isaiah 6 if King Uzziah
represented stability to Judah, what does his death mean? Why does God choose
this time to reveal himself?
2. What makes Isaiah despair for his life and confess
his sin? (vs 5)
3. Compare Isaiah’s response in verse 8 with verse
5? What is significant about that?
4. What does Jesus command in Matthew 28:18-20? What assurance does he give?
5. What promises are given in the following verses?
Matthew
18:20______________________________________________
I
John 1:7,9_________________________________________________
Psalm
139:3-5_______________________________________________
II
Corinthians 6:18-19_________________________________________
6. How important is it to have a spiritual focus in our
search for God’s finger prints? (see Colossians 3:1-3)
REFLECT – Here you apply the “story” of the
scriptures to your own life; to take personal inventory and share with others
what you will do about it.
1. How is your experience with God like Isaiah’s:
Awestruck? Guilt-ridden? Cleansed?
Are you willing to serve anywhere, anytime?
2. Do you have any sense of God’s calling on your life
as His child to serve with your fellow members of the local church? If so, where?
If not, why not?
3. As you think about Jesus’ “Great Commission” (Matt
28:18-20), what holds you back from actively passing on the Good News of
Christ? __ feeling like I don’t know
enough. __ feeling like I don’t have time. __ feeling like others are better at
it. __ just ignoring it.
4. In what ways can you fulfill the Great Commission in
the context of your family? Work? Community?
5. Why has God sent you to your world?
6. As you look over your life have you recognized
different times when God was reaching out to team up with you to do His work in
the world? If so, how did you feel when
you sensed He was with you? If you
haven’t had this experience, how do you think you would be affect if you did?
Additional Insight: HELP TO DO
GOD’S WORK
Whenever
we do something that brings forth good, that stands for what is just, honest
and true, that witnesses to his love and shares the good news of the gospel, we
have been helped to do God’s work in the world.
In
Old Testament times the living God
stepped into the lives of ordinary people. There were holy moments. The New
Testament world experienced God in the flesh, through Christ. Today we can
experience God in the everyday through the gift of the Holy Spirit. As we search for God in the everyday, the
Holy Spirit enlightens the Scriptures when we look to them.
We all enjoy finding
something special. The younger generation boasts about what they have bought or
sold on eBay. Financiers brag about “beating the
stock market.” Some scan the ground with radar devices, looking for
treasure. And when we purchase something
we‘ve been hunting for a while, we just have to tell someone. No matter what you are seeking, there is a
thrill when you find it. Can you
anticipate the excitement about discovering the Lord at work in your life?
Scripture teaches that God
is an active and communicative being, present in his creation, ready to come to
the aid of those who love him and eager to be in constant communion.
In the Bible the men and
women who discovered God were sheepherders, farmers, vinedressers, servant
girls, slaves, fishermen, tax collectors, town prostitutes, the sick and dying,
the wealthy, kings and commanders, religious leaders and the intelligentsia –
People just like us!. God intervened in
their ordinary routines.
SOME PRINCIPLES OF SEARCHING
FOR GOD
A
PERSONAL RESPONSE.
Linda Hawn, an RN and
mother in Salem, Illinois lost her 20 something son in an auto accident.
She shared several “God Sightings” and we reprint the following with her
permission.
After we lost Jimmy in 1997, some of
my friends at work were telling me about a new Christian radio station WIBI.
While looking for it on the radio dial, I came across 91.3 AFR. I know God
meant for me to find that one because there were many talk programs that seemed
to speak right to me and my needs at that time. One was Zig
Ziglar talking about the book he wrote after his
daughter died. It was called, “Confessions of a Grieving Christian,” which I
read and highlighted areas which helped me most. I have loaned the book to many
others who have lost children since. There were always songs, played exactly
when I needed to hear them.
WHO DO YOU WANT TO BE? - REMEMBER THE PRINCIPLE
Our
regular, daily search for God helps us sight the one we are seeking to know;
and in the act of continual sighting, when this becomes a lifetime habit, we
will become like the one we are seeking. (Yes, dear friends, we are
already God’s children, and we can’t even imagine what we will be like when
Christ returns. But we do know that when he comes we will be like him, for we
will see him as he really is. I John 3:2)
If
it’s money you want, you will become a money-first person. If it is power, then
you will find a way to squirm and worm yourself into positions of influence.
Who do you want to be? Beware! You will become like whatever it is you
seek. Make sure your life-hunt, the
hours you devote to searching for that most important treasure, is what you
want to become.