John Gunter: Well, good morning. You're in the wrong spot. Glad to see you all. We got a lot of people here today. Thankful.
Thankful that you're here with us. We got some visitors as well, so please make sure they are welcome. I I didn't get the information in time to give it to Robert for final announcement, but I got the information from Kendrick. Their son's name is Carter Wayne Doolsby, seven pounds, fourteen ounces, twenty one inches long. And so, yes, say amen.
I know they're they're watching online. We love you guys. We miss you guys, and we're we're just ready to welcome Carter to our our church family as well. So looking forward to that. We we've got some some people putting in some work to grow this church family.
We appreciate that. We appreciate it every bit. This morning in our class, and I want to invite you to our class, we we're going through some spiritual disciplines, some ways to encounter scripture that are maybe a little different, but this morning, what it encouraged us to do was to sit and remain in scripture, and the first part of that is to be silent and prepare your heart. And so, for just a few seconds this morning, I want us to just remain silent and to prepare our hearts. Would you do that with me now?
I'm thankful for a time to be able to come together. I'm thankful for a chance to draw encouragement from one another. As we began our series last week, I talked about our survival show that we love that is called Alone. Of course, in those survival shows, is encouraged, and you have to exist on your own. You have to be dropped in a place that is desolate and remote, and you have to live.
And that's great, they have a goal of earning money and all of these things, but it's often not very long before someone realizes, Man, I had it good with the people I left behind. I don't want to be out here alone. What is it worth to miss out on the time that we could have been together? And so, it's with that thought in mind that I have named this series, Not Alone. Living with God's presence, and that's what we we talked about last week, that we have been given a gift.
You have been given a gift of God's spirit. Your obligation now is to fan that into flame, into use, to submit to God's will and allow him to lead your life. The problem is, a lot of the times, we we depend so much on our own selves, we we like that control, or at least the perception of control, so much that we forget that we are not alone, that God's spirit can empower us to do so much. And so, this morning, we're gonna talk about what that means. That your life is is not that of just what you can control, but if you will submit to God, your life is a guided experience.
Not an experience where you know all the ins and the outs, the curves, the bumps, the sidetracks, but in all the things that life wants to throw your way, you can have faith that God is with you. Our first scripture reading this morning is also in your bulletin, and from Romans eight fourteen, for all who are led by the spirit of God are sons of God. He talked about that this morning, as he talked about the way that we are adopted. Those of you who've been around a while, you know that's my story as well, that I am adopted. I was adopted at two weeks old, and it was only that late because the person working at the maternity services or whatever they had at a Christian home was on vacation, and she wanted to make sure she was the one to give me to my parents.
I can't believe my parents didn't say forget you, but they did. They didn't know how wonderful I was yet. But but but I I resonate with this, because I lived in a family, though they were not my blood, you did not know that. I don't remember being told I was adopted. I always knew I'm adopted, but it was this is my family.
When I met my biological family in my late twenties, the first thing I thought was, I'm not looking for anything. I'm not trying to get you for any I'd love to meet you, but I have my family. It's still interesting to hear the boys talk about that because it's like, oh, well, we won't look like Didi or Pop, because there's no blood there. But we are family. And that's what we experience.
When you join into the family of God, you become sons and daughters of God. You are not an outsider, all of his blood has been given to each one of us. You understand that? Is that special to you? That God so loved you that he gave his only son for you, so that you could become a son or a daughter.
So god does not leave people to kind of navigate on their own. God, because he is a perfect father, guides us, leads us. You heard me just a few weeks ago talk about Psalm 23, which is become my favorite. The Lord is my shepherd. And in that sermon, I said, you don't call the Lord your shepherd unless you allow him to lead.
Well, to do that, you have to give up control, and that feels scary. But I'll tell you, when I'm when I'm spiritually healthy, that's not all the time, but when I'm I'm spiritually healthy and on the right track, giving things to God is very freeing. And you feel all of a sudden, all that all that idea that what I need is control, when you let go of that, you feel a sense of power that you did not feel when you thought you had control. Because God is so much greater. He can do so much greater than anything we can do.
Amen? Amen. So we don't have to rely on what we think, or what we can do, or what we can even accomplish with just this group in this place. But we give it to God, and in there, we can find security. In Psalm thirty two eight, I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go.
I will counsel you with my eye upon you. That is God's desire for you, that he will teach you if we will listen, if we will learn the lessons, if we will submit to him. In Proverbs three five and six, trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding. Boy, that is tough because I wanna know. How about you?
Tell me why, Lord. Why is it not going the way I wanted it to go? Why are these things not working out, or they are working out but not the way I wanted? Do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.
I love what Scott said this morning about the land. In some sense, it is our land. Right? But in a greater sense, it is God's land. Because God is gonna do what God wants to do with that.
We should be able to, as a church, say, god, what you want for this, make it happen. Amen. We we don't wanna do something and and just ask god to bless it. We wanna say, god, will you lead us in this? We may not even understand or be able to envision what God can do.
You you imagine we we own 11 acres in Mont Belvieu. Anybody priced that recently? I I moved from Arkansas where we were on just short of four acres, I'm down to a quarter acre now. And that feels like this. And God has blessed this church with a property that I I think it's just unlimited, the possibilities that can happen there.
If we submit to God and what He wants to do here, and not just decide we're gonna do what we wanna do, God, would you bless it? And so, hope that's our prayer, and God will guide His children if we lean on Him. Well, I missed the whole thing here. That's okay. In Colossians three fifteen, it says, and let the peace of Christ rule in your heart, to which indeed you were called in one body and be thankful.
So what I wanted to point out from this is that God's leading produces peace, not confusion. Now, what you don't see here, again, is a is a promise that if you depend on God, if you submit to the spirit of God, what will happen is everything will be, you know, no questions, no concerns, everything's good. Now, we we would love to sit here and say that and believe it, that if I'll just put my faith in him, I'll be prosperous, I'll have no health issues. And we love to think that and kind of fool ourselves into thinking, this is the way of God. But you look around life, and you know that's not true.
But in all of those things, God is with you. Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts. Well, we can only do that if we allow him to lead our lives. In first Corinthians fourteen thirty three, for God is not a God of confusion, but of what's the word church? Peace.
As in all the churches of the saints. That's what he's talking about. The context of that is is the worship there was kind of getting chaotic, and it was, I think, losing focus. He says, remember, God is not a God of confusion, but he is a God of peace, and so we want to be people of peace. Philippians four six and seven, do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your request be made known to God, and the peace of God.
The peace of God which surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. You ever felt that before? If you felt it, you know it. It's not a question, well, I may have at one time. You know it.
Because all of a sudden in your life, you've been praying for something, you've been going through something, and all of a sudden, you experience a peace that does not make sense. I I don't know why I have it. The the clearest example I have in my life is is at the the death of a little girl that I've told you this before, I won't say it again, but a little girl we we hoped to adopt that was part of our our family. And it was a hard time. She was one.
That was difficult. But all of a sudden, in the midst of that, and through the grieving and the wondering and the questioning, all of a sudden, the sense of peace came over. And if I had control of that, I would have had that a lot sooner, I'll tell you that. But when you feel it, you understand that this is of God. This is given to me by God because I couldn't have done it otherwise.
I am I am just wrecked. And all of a sudden, the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Just because, just whenever Look at that. But in everything, by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving We ought to be a church that's led by the spirit. We ought to be a church that is thankful.
Are you thankful this morning? In the midst of the worst things of your life, you know what? You can still be thankful. You can be thankful for the blessings, you can be thankful for the people around you, you can be thankful for being where you are at this moment because God is with you, and God has blessed you. And in the midst of all that, God will give you peace.
In Psalm 25 verses four and five, the psalmist here says, make me to know your ways, o Lord. Teach me your paths, lead me in your truth, and teach me for you are the God of my salvation, for you I wait all the day long. This is a good scripture to kind of orient ourselves around, okay, how should we look at this? God, make make me to know your ways, teach me your paths, that we desire to understand. Now, I think probably most of my life, you can answer for yourself, is the opposite of that.
God, I want to, or God, I plan to, God, will you bless me as I do this thing I'm gonna do? Instead of, God, make known to me, God, teach me. God, lead me in your truth, and remembering, God, you are the god of my salvation, for you I wait all the day long. James or Isaiah thirty twenty one, I'm sorry. And your ears shall hear a word behind you saying, this is the way, walk in it, when you turn to the right or when you turn to the left.
I have never audibly heard the voice of God. Maybe you believe you have, I have not. But I will tell you this, I have felt urgings, I have felt feelings that I have no explanation for, I need to do this right now, or I better not do this. You ever felt that? I think that is part of the promised Holy Spirit that God's spirit lives within you to convict you of things, to lead you in ways that, okay, I grew up and we never talked about hearing the voice of God, did you?
Maybe you did in your church. Quite frankly, if somebody said, I heard the voice of God, we'd say, okay. Remember to avoid them at lunch. Maybe you don't need to hear the voice of God, maybe you do. But maybe it is we need to be more attentive to, alright, why do I feel I need to do this or not do that?
That that God is is leading me in this way, and and that's what I said. And your ears shall hear a word behind you saying, this is the way, walk in it, when you turn to the right or when you turn to the left. Maybe it's not audible, but maybe it is gentle leading that God wants to be with us, and he wants to guide us one step at a time. Some of you are wired in a way that you'd love to have the map mapped out in front of you, know all the obstacles and all the hurdles. Yes.
Whether life is going good right now or there are difficulties, I'd like to know how this ends. Don't surprise me in the movie, give me the typical ending, and I love those movies, I'm looking for it. I'm have the main character die, right? We want the good guy to win, we want all the things to work out, we want all the the plot holes to be be cleared. But God doesn't say he's going to do that.
God says, I will be with you through all of those things. Back to Psalm 23, The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside still waters, he restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake, Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil. Why?
Why, church? For you are with me. What does Psalm 23 not say? Because God is with me, nothing bad will ever happen. No.
Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, because you are with me. Your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies, you anoint my head with oil, my cup overflows. Surely, goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. That's the promise.
That not only is God with you, God is going to guide you, He's going to walk with you, you can call Him your shepherd if you allow Him to lead, and whether good or bad, God is going to be with you. We'll end here this morning in Psalm 4eight 14, that this is God, our God forever and ever. He will guide us. When, church? Forever.
Will you depend on him? Will you will you allow him to lead? So as we continue this series, what we're going to do, the the focus we're going to have is to listen for God's leading. How is it that God wants to direct fill in your name this morning? How is it that God wants to guide you in your interactions this week?
How you deal with people? How you interact with your family? How you love one another? How is it that God wants to guide you? And so, want to do this taking one faithful step at a time.
Knowing that we're not going to be perfect, and God knows that. Because he says, alright, if you walk in the light as he is in the light, the blood of Jesus is going to continually cleanse you. You don't need continually cleansing if you're already clean. My kids think they're perpetually clean and never need a shower. We as Christians should not walk around thinking the same thing.
That I'm good, I don't need anything. We continually need the blood of Christ. Amen? Will you submit your life to him? You need prayers of the church this morning?
We're gonna offer a time of invitation. We'd love to pray with you. If you haven't begun that walk and need baptism, where you encounter the blood of Jesus, where you are given the gift of the Holy Spirit to go with you, that God not only walks with you, but he's given his spirit to live inside you, to guide you. We'd love to see you begin that walk this morning. Would you come as we stand and as we sing?