MK040 Sermons
Your Unique Pathway to Connect to God (Audio)
Well good morning. It is great to have you here with us. That was a great worship set. We started with here and now what we hope God and long forgot to see and do in the life of our church. Then we even got to sing about the snow dissolving. Wasn't that wonderful this morning? Sing about snow dissolving. So great job on that set this morning, Johnny and the team. So well, if you haven't been here with us, we began a new series last week entitled slowing down to be with Jesus. And I think we would all recognize and acknowledge that it feels a little bit like the pace of life is just too fast and that we need to at times just put life on pause. That we just need to pause. And pause because of maybe our health is not what we hoped it would be or pause because of demands in our family life or pause because of other things in our lives. We just feel like we need to just pause. And we talked last week about the invitation that Jesus offers to us and that invitation was to come to me from Matthew chapter 11 verse 28 where Jesus simply says come to me. And he invites us. He says would you just kind of come and hang out with me. Just come be with me. He doesn't say come and serve more or he doesn't say come and give more or come and do more or come and share your faith more. He says I want you to just come and be with me. And that was the invitation that Jesus offered to us last week. And as we look at another part of that, we're going to look at what that environment looks like and what is it like for me to do that? For me to come and be with Jesus. A close friend of mine told me a number of years ago after when our daughter was quite young that he said you won't really understand what being a parent is like until you have a second child. He said the first child you're kind of it's not real life. It's not real life until you have a second one. And then you discover all the challenges and all the adventures that go with that process and you slowly discover how amazingly different these two kids are even though they're raising the same house and in some cases have very similar genetic markers. They're so vastly, vastly different. You know my wife knows which kid likes vegetables and which one does and my wife knows which one likes their food mixed up in a casserole and which one please spread that food all apart. Now I'm just like eat what's in front of you. You're not getting anymore. You know, some like the room hot, some like the room cold, some like some like sweets, some don't, some like athletics, some like the arts, some are leaders, some are followers. We're also amazingly diverse and remarkably different. And yet the truth is if you work with people, you know that. And individuals that work with people are really good at their jobs. They know that people are different. And they know that you treat different people, you treat people differently. I mean a great coach knows that doesn't he? I mean a great coach knows which kind of athletes are going to be motivated by a fierce intense tongue lashing when they're not paying attention. And they need to get their head back in the game versus someone who comes alongside of them. A kid that encourages them about something they really did well so as not to crush their spirit. A great sales person knows what it means when someone is interested and they keep talking to them because they know they're right on the edge of closing the deal versus this person needs a little time and space to sit with this decision and think about it before they sign on the dotted line. And so whether you're a teacher, whether you're a coach, whether you're a therapist and whatever arena you are, you know that knowing the differences about people and being able to speak to those differences and reference those differences gives you an opportunity to relate to people differently. And we all have friends like that don't we? And we all have friends who you just sit down and spend time talking with them and you come away just you know disappointed that it had to end. And then we have friends that you go to a sporting event or a concert and you yell and scream and you have a great time being there with them doing that and yet they're probably very very different people. In spite of these differences one of the things that we're going to talk about this morning is I think that teachers and pastors like me we've sold people short by assuming that everyone will connect to God in the same way. If we're so incredibly diverse and we're so unique and different even in our own homes and in our own families why have we said that there's only one approach to God? And I'm not talking about salvation or having a personal relationship with Jesus but I'm talking about once you choose to follow Jesus how you connect to Him. You say but John shouldn't I just open my Bible and read and pray and connect with God and that's an important part of our walk and we're going to talk about that in just a couple weeks. But this morning I want to talk to you about something different because I think as we take serious this invitation that Jesus has extended to pause and to come and be with me the question is where and in what setting do you do that? And I want to suggest to you that it's very very different. You see the truth is if I took a poll this morning the majority of you would say if I asked you do you want to be closer to God I think everybody would put their hand up and say yeah I want to be closer to God. And if I gave you a scale and said on the scale of one to ten one being I feel really far from God and ten I feel as close to God as I've ever been you know where most people would put themselves below five you know three or four. So we have this longing but we know how to get from where we are to there and that's part of what this series is to talk about what are some of the things that are getting in the way of us connecting with God in a meaningful way. And it starts as we talked about last week with just accepting this invitation just to be with Him. And I don't know what your week was like I don't know how that went for you I hope in your small group this week you get a chance to dialogue a little bit and say what did what happened how did it go anybody make any steps towards that. But this morning we want to talk about the ways in which we connect to God. The ways in which we connect to God. Gary Thomas was really the first one that introduced this and he called it sacred pathways or spiritual pathways and John Artburg's written about this on a number of different settings and I'm going to draw from some of his things his teaching on this to help us understand it this morning. But a pathway is simply has to do with the way that we connect with God naturally and we experience a closeness to God which sets the table for us to grow in our faith. See the truth is we all know when we look at our own families that we all grow differently right we all grow differently. And so why would that not be true of us in our relationship with God that we would not all grow differently. And so if you're a guest here with us this morning we're going to do something a little bit different that I don't know if we've ever done or it's been a long time since we've done it. Those of you the regular tenders like oh no what's John going to make us do now you know so yeah hold on your seats you know. So what we're going to do is we're actually going to I'm going to actually give you an opportunity to do a short assessment. And the purpose of this assessment is for you to identify how you connect with God. So ushers are going to pass some sheets out so they're coming here and as they're coming to pass them out I want everybody to take one and just pass it down your row and when you're at the end just kind of leave it on the chair at the end or leave it on the seat. And as they're passing out they just have one per section just take one pass it all the way down and then when you're done or at the end of your row just kind of sit them down at the very end and the guys will come back and get those. So there's a series of questions and on this series of questions we're going to have you answer three two one or zero okay. So just about everybody's got theirs now and the ushers are going to come collect the extras so there's pens and should be pens in front of you grab a pen there. And so the first question is when I have a problem I'd rather pray with people than alone. And you can see the grid for you to use number three is consistently definitely yep I always call I always phone a friend when I'm going through a tough time I phone a friend. Number two sometimes number one pretty rare zero why would I do that? I just talked to God okay so you kind of got this scale three two zero one okay. So everybody go ahead and get started working your way down through that and I'll give you some more instructions in just a few moments. [Music] I can have everyone's attention just pause right where you are. I want you to get started. I can have everyone's attention just pause right where you are. I want you to take you two sheets and pull them apart. Everybody do that and pull them apart like that okay. I want to give you the next step so that some of you are a little faster now as you can keep moving alright. So you should have a grid on the second sheet okay. So what you need to do is your answer to number one goes in the number one box whatever that number is number two and so on. So when you finish going through all the questions then start putting your numbers on the grid and add them up. Okay get back to work. [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] When you're finished you should be able to see at the bottom probably your top one or two and then your lowest one or two. [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] Finish you can compare notes with your neighbor and see what they got while everybody else is finishing up. [Music] [Music] So what you might have discovered as you went through this is that most people have primarily one pathway that they connect to God. Now you might have one or two or three at the top that are close but what we're gonna do is we're gonna talk through each of these and my hope and prayer through walking through this with you is that it will actually create a sense of freedom for you. It's just like if you're an introvert and you have parents who are in sales and you learn oh I don't have to work in sales. I can go work in a library or if you're not good with working with your hands you're like I can go sit in an office all day or vice versa. And so my hope and prayer for you is that this will free you to see how God has uniquely wired you. And so as we go through this I want to describe some characteristics of each of these. Some passages of scripture that point to them that I think will give resonance to you. Some of the dangers in each of them and some of an area of stretch. You say what do you mean by stretch? I want you to pay attention to the one that is most true of you and also the one that is least true of you. The one that is most true of you and the one that is least true of you. And so we're gonna go through this process. So we're gonna start with the first one, the relational pathway. Okay let me see the hands. How many of you are relational? Let me see your hands. Okay these people just want to form a small group huddle right in the middle and talk about this right now. That's what they all want to do. Let's talk about this you know. People who are this is their pathway. They enjoy groups. Lots of groups. Solitude would not be so bad as long as they could bring a group of people to do it with them and then they would be very happy. Matthew 18 verse 20 Jesus said this. He said where two or three are gathered in my name. There I am right in the middle with them. And these are individuals that serve with others and pray with others. They love doing life with other people and they hear God speak more often in a conversation than they do in reading a book. But for these individuals one of the challenges for them is they probably have lots of relationships that are an inch deep. They have to make sure that they pursue one or two relationships that are really substantive in their lives. They can also rely on other people instead of turning to God when they need to turn to God. And so for them the stretch is not to move towards people but to move towards being quiet and silent before God in a way that will free them from being addicted to what other people think. So that's the first one the relational pathway. The second one is the intellectual pathway. The intellectual pathway people these are the individuals that can't wait for the music to be done so the message can start. That's what you're waiting for. And you tend to analyze things whenever there's a spiritual problem. We got to analyze this. You love Paul because he was a scholar. He was a rabbi. When Jesus was here on the earth he said this and we talk about this all the time. Matthew 22 37 he says love the Lord your God with all your heart, your soul. And in the Old Testament it says strength. But when the Greeks translate this in the Septuagint that Jesus took this from he said mind, mind. And so for you your mind is stimulated when you read and when you study and when you look at what not only the Bible has to say but what other people say. And so your heart functions and then your head functions deeply and then your heart follows. And for you the danger is for your relationship with God to be all head. And it's easy to believe that you are right all of the time instead of quite frequently which you usually are. And so for you the stretch is to remember what Paul said in 1 Corinthians 13 when he said this in verse 2. If I have the gift of prophecy, can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, faith that can move mountains but I don't have what? Love. It's not worth anything. And so the stretch is for you when you're involved in a setting like worship where it more engages the heart for you to be active and engaged. The next one number 3 is the worship pathway. How many of you had the worship pathway as your highest? Okay, somebody said that the worship pathway people they put both hands up so they get twice as many in the room here. You know that's what the worship pathway people do. But you love the first part of the service and you wish that would go on for hours. You actually make your car a portable worship center whenever you're there and music is loud and you're praising God and people are wondering what's happening in your car when they drive by you. But somehow your heart comes alive in worship. Your heart comes alive and you're moved deeply. Sometimes often the tears as you just reflect on God's presence and God's greatness and God's compassion and the salvation through Jesus. You love King David and you love what David said in Psalm 122.1 when he said I rejoice when they said it is time to go to God's house today. And so for you your love for God is expressed through your heart in song. The challenge for you is not to judge other people who don't express themselves in worship like you do. Just because someone doesn't raise a hand or even a finger in worship doesn't mean they're not engaging in worship. Remember we have a lot of Germans and Scandinavians in the room here so it doesn't come natural. For you you also have to be careful that your faith is not just based on an experience and then you move from one experience and you're just looking for the next experience to feel close to God. For you the challenge and the stretch might be to engage your mind. To make sure that you're reading the scriptures like Greg shared with us a passage that reminds us about God being our rock. Not just a song that fills your heart but the truth that is the rock and the foundation for your soul. And so be willing to engage your mind and look at the scriptures and see what that is. How about number four? Let me see how many activist pathways do we have out there? Okay we got a few activist pathways. Let me talk about the activists. The activists love challenges. They don't discourage you. They energize you. You are high energy. You're driven and you're focused and you have to have a cause that demands the best from you. And that's something that drives you is what that cause is. And everybody around you will know what that causes because you won't stop talking about it. You'll tell everybody about it. You'll try to invite them into it. You'll try to get them on board with it. This is the way a cause-driven person functions. I love Nehemiah's prayer because Nehemiah was a cause-driven person. He knew that the walls were broken down and he knew that he had to go to Jerusalem to try to rebuild these walls. And so Nehemiah in the same breath does this. He says, "The king said to me, 'What is it you want that I prayed to the God of heaven?' In one minute he's saying, 'What do you want?' In the next minute he's praying to God and he's moving, making something happen. The danger for activist people is that they don't run over everybody in the pathway to accomplish what God's called them to do. You have to slow down and listen to God's calling in your life. Because even activity, good activity without done from the right heart, Paul says is pointless. Back to 1 Corinthians chapter 13 verse 3. He says, "If I give all possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but I don't have what? Love. It's a waste of time. It's a waste of time." And so the activist person is someone who's going, who's doing, who's engaged, is involved in all these kinds of things. And for them the challenge is often to slow down and to be quiet and still be foregone. So that's the activist pathway. How about the next one? How about contemplative pathway? How many had contemplative pathway? These people don't mind if they're the only ones because they just like to be by themselves, so they're good. Not many contemplatives in the room here as you look around. A lot of activists, a lot of people engage, but not many contemplatives. Contemplatives love large blocks of time interrupted and quiet. They're able to be with God and just be present with God. Usually, contemplatives marry someone who's very chatty and outgoing. God is most present to you when you are quiet and distractions and noise are eliminated. Reflection is something that comes naturally to you. And you look to the example of Jesus who in Mark 135, it says that very in the morning he was, when it was still dark, he got up, left the house, went off to a solitary place. And he prayed. The danger for this, like the others, is to believe that just because Jesus did it, that's the way everybody should do it. And point the finger at others and build the critical of them who are not still. But the other danger for contemplative individuals is that when people disappoint you, you can withdraw from people and be alone and by yourself. So the stretch for you is to engage, to be with people, to engage in relationships and serving others. How about number six, the serving pathway? How many said the serving pathway was theirs? How many serving? Okay. A little bit more in the first service in the second. But the serving pathway, these are people that can't say no. These are people that can't say no. And you're all saying, yes, I can't say no. I can only do this. That's all I can do. And so when individuals ask you to serve, when individuals say, hey, can you help me, all you can say is yes. And you're the kind of person that whether you are making coffee, whether you're standing at the door, greeting someone, whether you're putting cards in the pockets, you know, whether you're cleaning and nobody's here, you just have this overwhelming sense that you are connected to God. For you, it's actually hard to come to church and just attend and not serve because you feel disconnected from God. Acts 9 is a great example of that. A woman that we don't only know a little bit about her story. A woman by the name of Dorcas. Look at her story there in Acts chapter 9 in Japa. There was a disciple named Tabitha, also known as Dorcas. She was always doing good in helping the poor. Look at her characterization in the next verse. Peter went with them and when he arrived, he was taking upstairs to the room. All the widows sit around him crying and showing the robes and other clothing that Dorcas had made while she was still with him. I mean, these are individuals that they just love to serve. Yesterday, I was at the funeral for one of our members, Kathy Husser, Dad passed away last week. And so I was at the funeral and after the funeral, I was there at the receiving line. I was talking with her mom and her mom said to me, she said, just thank you for the way your churches reach out to me. And she said, thank you to whoever made the afghan that someone gave to me. I don't know who made the afghan, but someone made an afghan that was given to this woman. And in the midst of this grief and loss that she's experienced, someone put time and effort. She didn't even know who it was and blessed this woman. And that's just the way that people who are wired and serving, one of the most well-known servants in our culture is Mother Teresa. And she said this, the primary reason I'm so involved in serving was not it was something I was supposed to do, but it brings me great joy. And people who are wired to serve, that is true. The danger for people who are wired to serve is to believe God is only present when you're serving. And you can often be critical of people who don't serve as much as you do. And these individuals are individuals that need to make sure that they take a step back from doing and they experience and receive God's love for them so that they're serving can come out of their being present with him. The last one is the creation pathway. How many of you said the creation pathway was your highest one? Well, that's a lot in the room. Look around and see who those individuals are. The creation pathway, yeah, there's more out there, Johnny. Just come see Johnny if you're a creation pathway. He's looking for you up here. So your individuals that love the outdoors, you just love being outside. When you are outdoors, you are energized, you're re-engaged, your tank is filled up. If you sit inside in an office, you know, you can't stay inside for very long. You just got to get out and get some fresh air and be outside somewhere. David talks about this in the Psalms when he said this. He said the heavens declare God's glory and the skies proclaim the work of his hands. And you see God not only in the majesty of Niagara Falls, but in the wonder of when a leaf drops off the tree and falls to the ground in the fall. And you love spending large amounts of free time outdoors and creation. The danger is that you can use this pathway to God as an escape from the struggles of this life, as an escape from problems with people. It's easy for you to drift into believing that you don't need the church. You just need to go out in nature and meet God out there. And so the challenge for you is to move towards people and to enter relationships with people. You know, one of the things that we wondered when God gave us this property back here where we bought this land is why did God give us this property? And when I was talking with someone recently about this message that I was going to give and we began to talk about the idea of what would it be like just to create a place for people to walk out there and just meet with God out. You know, it's pretty quiet back in the back part of our property. And so one of our guys actually did that. He actually cut a path and if you see blue flags out there, he created a path that you can walk. It's about a half a mile. We'll take you about 15 minutes where you can walk back. It's quiet and go back through the woods down by the creek that's in the back and just meet with God. And for some of you, that's incredibly meaningful. That may be more meaningful than the hour that we spend here. And so maybe what you want to do is some morning when you've got a little bit of time come a little early after the snow melts and it dries off or please wear, bring a change of shoes so our cleaning team doesn't have more cleaning to do. And just take a walk out there. Or maybe after a service if your spouse is in here talking and you're always waiting in the car for them while they're in here talking, you know, then just take a walk out there and leave a note. I'll be back, you know, and just walk out in the woods and meet with God and connect with him out there. There's some maps, by the way, on the back table if you want to grab one of those to see where that space is. So I challenge you to do two things. I challenge you to look at the one that comes most natural to you, the one that is kind of the way you're wired, your bent, and for you to look at what does not come most natural to you. For me, the one that comes most natural, probably two of them that are pretty close or the worship and the contemplative, you know, I just enjoy worship. It's a very, very meaningful part of my week. I also enjoy times alone. Just this past week, I had an extended time alone, about six or seven hours, just kind of by myself. And some of you are thinking, I would pull my hair out if someone made me do that, you know. But for me, it was just the time to step back from all the demands, step back from all the pressures, all the responsibilities, and just to be quiet and be with God. And as I went down through this and I thought about what's way on the other side for me, the one that's actually way on the other side for me is the activist. In spite of the fact that I encourage you to do things and I participate in things with you, it's really hard for me to get organized around a cause and then to get engaged in doing that. I felt that this past last weekend when we were down in D.C. and have a group of individuals that have been meeting together here at CCC on a monthly basis. We've been talking and praying about ways we can go and serve and love our community. And we've been reading a resource that's really challenged us about our view of people who are different than us and people that don't have much and how we view our world. And so we've been reading about this and praying about this and asking God for ideas and direction. We've got some things that we're working on that we're going to tell you about in the near future. So I was down in D.C. and I happened to be there and walking on the National Mall and walked past the homeless guy that was there, shaking his cup. And I thought because of what we've been talking about and doing, I thought, man, that just, I don't feel real comfortable even going over and giving him some money, not alone food. Or sitting down and hearing a story or taking to a restaurant and giving him a meal. Or maybe money to go in to stay in a hotel somewhere overnight. But some of you would do that without thinking twice. Without thinking twice. And so when we pay attention to the things that are do not come natural to us and we start to walk towards whatever that one is at the lowest in your score, you have an opportunity for God to open a part of your heart and open a part of your life and invite you into something that may be way, way, way out of your comfort zone. And in moving there, you have to rely on him and he does something in your heart that you've never known before. You know, when I walked into that experience, it really pushed my level of compassion and my willingness to enter this person's struggle is so very different than I am in some ways, not in others. And so as you look at that list that's in front of you, you probably have one of those that's pretty natural. And if I would have given you this without this, you might have landed on it. But I hope you have a sense that God has uniquely made you to connect with him in this way. But not just in that way, there might be another way that God is inviting you to come and be with him in which he wants to deepen and stretch your faith. And so as we walk away this morning, there's a couple things I want you to do. Number one, I want to challenge you just to embrace how God has wired you to connect with him. Just to recognize this is who God has made me to be. And number two, avoid looking down at others wired differently or who connect to God differently, who might not enjoy worship, who might not serve as much as you do, who might not buy into your cause, who aren't real thrilled about going outside for a walk, who don't really enjoy being by themselves. Recognize they're different, and that's completely okay. Thirdly, pay attention to the pathway that doesn't come natural to you, because God has something for you when you meet him in a way. That doesn't come natural to you. I was reading about this, I was reminded about a verse in the book of Revelation where John writes that God has a name for every person who's a follower of Jesus. For that individual, that when they go to heaven, that God will reveal that name to them and that name will remain a secret between God and them for eternity. They say, "Why would God do that?" See, as Lewis suggests this, he says, "What shall we take this secrecy to mean?" Surely, that each of the redeemed shall forever know and pray some one aspect of the divine beauty better than any other creation can. Why else were individuals created, but that God, loving all infinitely, should love each one differently? If we all experienced God the same way and returned with him, an identical worship, the song of the church would have no symphony. It would be like an orchestra in which all of the instruments played the same note. But just like as a parent, you recognize the unique difference in each of your children, and you value and treasure them for who they are. I believe that God does the same thing for us. Someone said this, "In my father's house, there are many rooms." Actually, Jesus said those, but one of them was added when you became his child, and that one is yours and yours alone. And when our life comes to the end here and we, under God's presence, we get to discover the unique place that he has for us if we walk down that road with him. And so this morning, if you've chosen Jesus and you're following Jesus, he invites you to connect with him, to move towards him, to have a sense as we sing and say often here that there is a God in the heavens who loves you, who made you in his image, and was willing to give his one and only son so that you could have a relationship with him. And then he invites you to pursue him in a unique and amazing way that fits just you. J about your heads with me as we close in prayer this morning. God, I thank you that you have made us so uniquely different. I think that if I was the one in charge, I would make everybody just like me, because that would seem to make life a lot easier. But that's not what you did. You made us uniquely different, very diverse, and then you invite us to come and be with you. And sometimes that's with people, sometimes it's with our books, sometimes it's in solitude. Sometimes it's when we're actively making a difference in this world, sometimes it's when we're serving, sometimes it's when we're worshiping with our hands in the air to you, and sometimes it's when we're walking in the woods, and there's no one there but the birds in the animals. God, I pray that this week, as we continue to think about this invitation that you have, inviting us to come and be with you. That whatever our pathway is, God, that we would pursue that this week, and that you might give us a glimpse of being in your presence and you being there with us as one of your children. God, thank you for the way that you've made us, the way that you love us, the amazing sacrifice of Jesus for us, and the way that you uniquely make us and invite us to be with you. In your name we pray. Amen. [Music]