God With Us: Saturday Night Church Sermon Notes

Tonight's message was by a preacher on staff, Nathan Bean. This was actually his last message as he, his wife and children are moving back to Australia. I've always enjoyed him, his ability to delivery the Word with clarity and his quirky sense of humor.

The subject was: God With Us

The greatest gift of all that's been given to us is Jesus. 

Matthew 1:18-25

We often use God “in case of an emergency.” We tend to live life on our own until we need God in a crunch. Emergency seasons lead us to pray, “God be with me.” In busy seasons, praying God be with me is put a shelf but we still want to know that God is near. It’s easy for us to live life without an awareness of God’s abiding presence when we live life by our own power.

We are about to embark on a busy season—Christmas (which is the season where we celebrate God being with us). The best thing about Christmas is not presents but presence—God’s presence. As kids, Christmas was all about presents, but as you mature we are more concerned about whose presence we are going to be in during the holidays.

1.   GOD with us 1 John 1, 14 God Himself took on flesh. He came near to broken humanity in the form of a frail baby. In the world, the higher the honor a person has, the more glory they get. But Jesus didn’t send someone else to come down. He took on the form of a servant. The lengths God went through to be with you and I. It should blow us away. God doesn’t sit back and wait for us to rescue ourselves; He gets involved in our lives.

2.     2. God WITH us. We can confront anything when we know He’s with us. God does not start on us like a project and leave us unfinished. He brings everything to completion in our lives. Matthew opens with God with us and ends with Jesus saying, “I am with you.” When we go through  the hard parts of life, we are not alone. John 14:27 says we are given God’s peace. He leads us with His peace. It’s not just the absence of conflict but the presence of God’s blessings that equals peace. His presence changes us. We change as we are close to Him.

3.     God with US. In the Old Testament, God presented Himself as a burning bush, cloud, earthquake, a pillar of fire, thunder and lightning. His presence was scary and made people want to hide themselves. But in the New Testament, there is no fear in a baby. You can come near to the baby in the manger. In biblical times, shepherds were lowly members of society. But this is who God called to Himself. 

Six Ways To Be in the Will of God: Saturday Night Sermon Notes

I love Saturday night church!

Getting all three kids ready for church on Saturday is so much easier that corralling them early Sunday for 8:45am service. Plus, it gives us a day of rest on Sunday.

The faintest ink is more powerful than the strongest memory. – Chinese proverb

My pastor mentioned this quote last night when he was urging the congregation to take notes to help the message sink in. For a few weeks now, I’ve gone back to handwriting notes after switching from using my iPad to follow along and take notes. I had to chuckle at myself tonight because I forgot my notebook so I had to use a scribbled up sheet I found in my Bible. 

Tonight’s message was good solid teaching so I thought I’d share sermon notes from my pastor's message at Saturday night church.

The topic: Six Ways To Be in the Will of God.

1. The will of God is sitting at Jesus’ feet. Mark 3:31-35  Then Jesus’ mother and brothers arrived. Standing outside, they sent someone in to call him. A crowd was sitting around him, and they told him, “Your mother and brothers are outside looking for you.” “Who are my mother and my brothers?” he asked. Then he looked at those seated in a circle around him and said, “Here are my mother and my brothers!  Whoever does God’s will is my brother and sister and mother.”

We need to hear God’s Word and spend undistracted time in the Bible. Meditation = illumination = manifestation = action.

2. The will of God is giving to the Lord then through something He is doing through people. 2 Corinthians 8:1-7 

And now, brothers and sisters, we want you to know about the grace that God has given the Macedonian churches. 2 In the midst of a very severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity. 3 For I testify that they gave as much as they were able, and even beyond their ability. Entirely on their own, 4 they urgently pleaded with us for the privilege of sharing in this service to the Lord’s people. 5 And they exceeded our expectations: They gave themselves first of all to the Lord, and then by the will of God also to us. 6 So we urged Titus, just as he had earlier made a beginning, to bring also to completion this act of grace on your part. 7 But since you excel in everything—in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in complete earnestness and in the love we have kindled in you[a]—see that you also excel in this grace of giving.

We are to give of ourselves, our time and talents. Then we are to support the work that God is giving through others like missions, volunteering for programs, etc. When we see God moving through a work, it is His will that we give to it.

3. God’s will is that you work hard and enthusiastically.

Ephesians 6:5-8 Living Bible (TLB): Slaves, obey your masters; be eager to give them your very best. Serve them as you would Christ. 6-7 Don’t work hard only when your master is watching and then shirk when he isn’t looking; work hard and with gladness all the time, as though working for Christ, doing the will of God with all your hearts.8 Remember, the Lord will pay you for each good thing you do, whether you are slave or free.

This scripture should be read in the context of employer and employee. We should work as if Jesus is our boss and not man. Don’t just do enough to get by but do your work and be happy about it. Even if you think you have a calling on your life, still work as unto the Lord until you are moved to your next assignment.

4. God’s will is that you be sanctified. I Thessalonians 4:3 It is God’s will that you should be sanctified: that you should avoid sexual immorality. Sanctified means set apart for God. We have to choose to live within the boundaries that God has set for our sexuality. God created us and sex. When God sets boundaries it’s for our benefit. He has our best interest at heart.

 3 Ways to Live Pure When You are Tempted:

1.     Run away! Joseph ran away from Potiphar’s wife who pursued him sexually—even to the point of leaving his beloved coat behind. 2 Timothy 2:22, I Corinthians 6:18 Flee sexual immorality.

2.     Make no provision for the flesh Romans 13:14 No provision = no advance planning. If you make provision for the flesh then you will fulfill the lust of the flesh.

3.     Renew your mind with the Word. Romans 12:1-2 . Change your thinking. Conform means to squeeze into a mold from outside pressure. The spirit of the age in which we live will squeeze you into its mold.

5.    God’s will is that you find something to be thankful for. I Thessalonians 5:18. Don’t be thankful for everything but in whatever circumstance you find yourself in you can find something to be thankful for.

6.    It’s God’s will that you turn to Him. 2 Peter 3:9 The first step in salvation is to turn from sin. There’s an SOS that goes out from every heart and God sent rescue through Jesus. This rescue can’t be fulfilled any other way or through any other relationship, not through noble works or religion.