Sermon Nuggets Mon Sept 15 2008
Theme Our Special Counselor.
Verses-John 14:13-14 And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father.14 You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it. (NIV)
The Part Prayer Plays.
Dr. Charles Swindoll, in his book, "Dropping Your Guard", tells of a man in the south who was looking for a restaurant in the yellow pages and ran across the name, "The Church of God Inn". Out of curiosity he called the number and a cheery voice answered at the other end of the line. He could not resist asking the obvious question, namely, how the restaurant got its unusual name. The man replied that the Inn had started out first of all as a Church that served chicken dinners after services on Sunday mornings. It seems the people like the chicken dinners better than the services, so the Sunday services gradually died out but they kept on serving their chicken dinners. When the church died they merely kept the name -hence- "The Church of God Inn".
Giving people what they want an what they pray for isn't necessarily what God wants. We discussed this in the sermon yesterday that Christ challenges us to take up our cross and follow Him. Today Christian consumer mentality supersedes the Christian commitment and that spills over into our prayers. The idea is illustrated by the restaurant, "If people want chicken, give them chicken and keep the name of Jesus mixed up in it and then you are ministering in His name." Or the idea is pray for what you want and include Jesus name in it and it is a sure deal because it is a promise in the Bible. That is not necessarily true. What we need is Jesus, on Jesus' terms. If people like love without obedience, then you give them love. But let’s not fool ourselves, we do not have Jesus, we have created a religion of our own making. And we are not praying in the name of Jesus if we seek our own lusts and wants. James 4:3 “When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.”
If we listen to our prayers how might the Son of God be glorified if they are answered? We glorify our parents for buying what we want as we run off and play with our toys without regard to anyone else unless we need them for our own pleasures.
In the verses that we will look at this week we see more clearly the work of the Trinity and the responsibility each member of the Trinity has in our guidance. These verses which begin with our prayers continue with the part each on has in responding to prayer and in spiritual relationship.
Pastor Dale.
