Cultivating the Presence - December 23, 2018

Cultivating God's Presence

December 23, 2018

Good morning, let’s pray and then we will jump in. PRAYER

OPEN - Has anyone ever had a leak in their roof? I’ve experienced this a few times…

·      Car on the way home from AL

·      Our 150+ year old church in OH

·      The main auditorium in UR

·      If my bucket is here, that may look like the right choice.

·      ACTION: pick up pitcher and begin to pour ten feet away.

·      But what if the leak is here

·      ACTION: have a volunteer run to get the bucket in the right place (Sam)

We must position our bucket to receive the rain that is falling.

PRESENCE

All month long, we’ve discussing the first gift of Christmas. We’ve been talking about the fact that the greatest gift of the Father is his Presence. In the garden of Eden, Adam/Eve were blessed with the very presence of God every single day. When sin entered the world, they lost the privilege of His daily presence.

The Israelites (led by Moses) were to be carriers of His Presence, but they couldn’t sustain the pressure without the help of the Holy Spirit within them. So, the prophets told us that a day would come when the Presence would be for all people… and that began with the gift of Jesus at Christmas. He paved the way for all of us to not just experience the presence in Human form of Jesus, but that He would unlock all the barriers so that we could all be carriers of His Presence daily!

Now, that all sounds great… and we’ve talked all month long about the nuances of His presence among us, in us, and upon us… and for many of us… this sounds good

·      BUT maybe we don’t feel like we’re experiencing it… at all!

·      OR, maybe we have felt the Presence of God once and now we are like that was good, but what about today?

·      OR, maybe it’s been so long that we can’t remember what the Presence of God is like?

·      OR, maybe it’s that we have a belief that the Presence comes at our conversion to faith in Jesus and now, we just have to make it by.

When the angels appeared to the shepherds in Luke 2, they said:

·      NIV ¹⁴ “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”

·      NLT “Glory to God in highest heaven, and peace on earth to those with whom God is pleased.”

The Christmas story is about the realization that GOD IS NOT MAD AT US! It’s about the realization that God wants to give us Himself all the time. He is giving us peace, constantly. He is giving us favor, all the time. He is pleased with YOU! God’s presence is constantly pouring out on YOU… it isn’t stopping!

TENSION Some of us still think

·      this as a one-time event

·      only for a special person

·      only for a specific event

·      only on a miraculous situation that’s needed

The truth is that the Father has been pouring out His presence into our lives since we were born… the problem is not that the rain isn’t coming.

The problem is that our bucket is in the wrong place.

We must position our buckets to receive the “Presence” of God.

BIBLE STORY

Today, I want us to take a fresh look at two of the most well-known parts of the Christmas story (Shepherds & Wise Men) … I want us to glean from their stories how to position our buckets for what God wants to do in our lives. These two groups had never experienced Jesus… they’d never seen God move before or heard His voice… the presence of God was not something they’d been a part of… they’d heard stories… and yet, they were ready when God showed up!

Þ   They had their bucket ready to receive what God was pouring out.

Matt. 2:1 Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem, 2 saying, “Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose & have come to worship him.”

There is so much we can learn from the Magi, but I want to focus on a couple of ways that they “positioned their buckets for the presence of God.” These are things that each of us today can do to get ourselves ready to receive.

Þ   The most important thing they did was: PAY ATTENTION

Think about the discipline it takes to watch the stars… that’s amazing to me. They knew and understood that something different had taken place at just that moment. They had read and understood many of the prophecies of the coming King.

In my house (5 kids), one of the reasons my kids are always asking me “what are we doing tonight?” is because they don’t pay attention when Corrie and I are telling them things. You know, I think this is half the battle of why so many of us don’t cultivate and nurture a life in God’s Presence… we just haven’t positioned ourselves enough to pay attention to what God is saying and doing in our lives.

Let’s continue on with the story of the Magi…

9 After listening to the king, they went on their way. And behold, the star that they had seen when it rose went before them until it came to rest over the place where the child was. 10 When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. 11 And going into the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him. Then, opening their treasures, they offered him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh. 12 And being warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they departed to their own country by another way.

This is so cool. Think about it. They were paying attention and waiting on the Lord… and as they began to partner with His Presence and follow what He was doing they were led into an amazing experience. They are probably the only people ever who got to follow a star to a specific house… pretty awesome. But, don’t miss how they positioned their bucket to receive even more from the Father.

Þ   The second thing they did was: WORSHIP

When the star stopped, they worshipped (rejoicing)… when they saw Jesus, they worshipped (adoration)… when they interacted with the family, they worshipped (giving). AND, as they worshipped, the presence of God poured out even more. Think about it, the first time Papa God talks to them is after they worshipped Jesus!

Worship positions our buckets for the voice of God in our lives. Worship unleashes the Father’s direction, call and where to go!

STORY: 2002 at Jr High CIY in Cincinnati, OH.

Let’s continue with the Christmas story to learn another way to position ourselves for the presence of God to be stirred up in our lives. Let’s look at the shepherds in Luke 2…

¹⁵ When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.” ¹⁶ And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger.

Þ   The shepherd’s story teaches us: When God speaks, RESPOND QUICKLY

Friends, I cannot tell you how many times I’ve failed in this area. It’s one of the ways I’m trying to grow in right now. If the presence of God is constantly pouring into my life, then I know He must be talking to me. And if He’s talking with me, He’s encouraging me to respond to His voice… over and over again, I find myself drawn to a person to pray for them… to encourage them… to bless them. The story of the shepherds teaches me, that I need to respond with haste

STORY: woman at Aldi with a medical boot on

YOU

Guys, I believe with all of my heart that the Father is constantly speaking to all of us. He wants His glory to cover the entire earth through our actions & response to His presence. So, today if you hear His voice, RESPOND QUICKLY to what He says.

Corrie and I do our best to go on regular “date nights” and try to take a trip or 2 without the kids each year. Why do we do this? We do this to cultivate and nurture our relationship with one another. After 22+ years together, we are still “positioning our buckets” for a healthy relationship with one another for many years to come.

Our relationship with the Presence of God is no different:

·      We need to PAY ATTENTION, so we don’t miss what He’s doing.

·      We need to WORSHIP so we can hear His voice.

·      We need to RESPOND QUICKLY so we can partner with Him.

I believe that there are 4 categories of people that are in our services each weekend. Some of you are not followers of Jesus, some have recently become a follower, some of you are veterans, and some are grandparents in the faith. Each of you has a different way to “position your bucket,” so that you are ready to pay attention, worship & respond.

·      Pre Xstian – start thinking about God’s presence

·      Baby Xstian – let the new fire and passion out every chance you’ve got

·      Veteran Xstian – practice the spiritual rhythms (discipline/obedience)

·      Older Xstian – pour into others as often as possible

IMAGINE

There is one final lesson we can learn from the Christmas story. Look at shepherds again:

 ¹⁷ And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child. ¹⁸ And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them. ¹⁹ But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart. ²⁰ And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.

I love the response of the shepherds… not only did they pay attention to the words of the angels, not only did they worship, not only did they respond quickly… but when they realized that God had done something, did you catch what they did?

Þ   They TOLD EVERYONE what God had done!

This is truly the most effective way to cultivate and nurture the presence of God in our lives. This is truly the most amazing way to position our buckets to receive what God is doing again… it’s to testify to what He’s done before… share our story! Share His story!

Testify to the goodness and greatness of our amazing Father.

Þ   Imagine if we all felt this way! …Imagine if we all shared our story!

Þ   Imagine if our cities began to “wonder” as Bethlehem did

Þ   Imagine if we gave away the presence… what would God give us next J?