Sermon Central
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God Moments: Part One Series
Contributed by Douglas Phillips on Feb 10, 2010 (message contributor)
Summary: THE BEGINNING OF A SERIES DEALING WITH THE SPECIAL WAYS THAT GOD ACTS IN OUR LIVES THAT LEAVES NO DOUBT THAT ONLY GOD COULD ACT IN THESE WAYS.
GOD MOMENTS
INTRODUCTION:
HAVE YOU CONSIDERED THE AWESOME POWER OF TIME? OFTEN WE TAKE MOMENTS FOR GRANTED, BUT SOME MOMENTS CAN BE LIFE TRANSFORMING. TAKE JAMES CAMERON FOR EXAMPLE.
IT WAS AN AVERAGE NIGHT IN MARION, INDIANA IN 1930. THERE ARE, HOWEVER, NO AVERAGE NIGHTS FOR A BLACK PERSON IN INDIANA IN 1930. JAMES CAMERON, WAS WITH HIS FRIENDS THOMAS SHIPP, AND ABRAM SMITH, AND THEY DECIDED THAT NIGHT TO COMMIT ROBBERY.
JAMES CAMERON IMMEDIATELY RECOGNIZED THE PERSON THEY WERE GOING TO ROB AS A FREQUENT CUSTOMER OF HIS SHOE SHINE BUSINESS, AND RAN AWAY. A FEW HOURS LATER HE WAS ARRESTED ALONG WITH HIS FRIENDS FOR THE CUSTOMER’S MURDER, AND THE RAPE OF THE MURDER VICTIM’S GIRL-FRIEND.
A FURIOUS MOB ASSULTED THE JAILHOUSE WHERE CAMERON AND THE TWO OTHERS WERE BEING KEPT. UNPROTECTED BY THE SHERIFF, CAMERON AND THE OTHERS WERE SEIZED BY THE INCENSED CROWD AND BEATEN. THEN THOMAS SHIPP AND ABRAM SMITH WERE LYNCHED, AND THE NOOSE WAS AROUND JAMES CAMERON’S NECK.
CAN YOU JUST IMAGINE THE TENSION. THE BOY’S MUSCLES, THE CROWD’S FISTS, THE ROPE GETTING TIGHTER AROUND HIS NECK, JUST WAITING FOR SOMEONE TO SHOUT”PULL HIM UP, LET’S GET IT OVER WITH.” EVERYTHING IS WILD AND OUT OF CONTROL, THE SHOUTING, THE CURSING, THERE WAS NO SUCH THING AS CALMNESS.
THEN, IT HAPPENED. A GOD MOMENT. A SWEET, UNDEFILED, AND DISTINCT VOICE, UNLIKE ANY HE HAD EVER HEARD, CLEARLY CALLED OUT: “TAKE THE BOY BACK. HE HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH ANY RAPING OR KILLING.”
ALMOST IMMEDIATELY AND FOR NO APPARENT REASON, THE CROWD CALMED DOWN. THE WHITE CROWD SLOWLY PARTED, AND THE BEWILDERED, BEATEN JAMES CAMERON MADE HIS WAY, FROM A HANGMAN’S NOOSE, BACK TO THE CONFINES OF THE JAIL. HE WAS LATER GIVEN A FAIR TRIAL, FOUND GUILTY OF ACCESSORY BEFORE THE FACT TO VOLUNTARY MANSLAUGHTER AND SERVED FOUR YEARS IN PRISON.
TO THIS DAY PEOPLE DON’T KNOW WHO’S VOICE WAS HEARD. SOME SAY IT WAS A WOMAN, OTHERS A MAN. SOME SAY IT SOUNDED LIKE A YOUG VOICE, OTHERS AN OLDER PERSON. NOONE IN THE CROWD SAW ANY STRANGER THER THAT NIGHT. TO THIS DAY THERE IS NO EXPLANATION FOR IT, OTHER THAN THE ONE EIGHTY-SIX YEAR OLD JAMES CAMERON BELIEVED STARTING THAT NIGHT AND SHARES WITH PEOPLE TODAY. CAMERON SIMPLY SAYS, “IT WAS A VOICE FROM HEAVEN. IT WAS A MIRACLE. GOD SAVED ME FOR WHAT I’M DOING TODAY.” TODAY JAMES CAMERON HAS WRITTEN BOOKS, SPEAKS TO CROWDS, AND EVEN FOUNDED A MUSEUM. ALL BECAUSE OF A GOD MOMENT.
JAMES CAMERON IS NOT THE FIRST TO HAVE A GOD MOMENT. PLENTY OF PEOPLE HAVE HAD LIFE-CHANGING MOMENTS, CLOSE CALLS, NEAR ACCIDENTS, BUT THEY ALL HAVE ONE THING IN COMMON. GOD USES THE MOMENT TO SCULP AND SHAPE THE DESTINY OF AN INDIVIDUAL SHOULD THAT INDIVIDUAL CHOOSE TO LISTEN TO THE CALL OF GOD. A GOD MOMENT WILL FUEL THE FIRE OF A PERSON’S SPIRIT, AND FEED THE GRATITUDE OF HIS SOUL.
THE WORD’S ROOT “MOVERE” MEANS “TO MOVE”, GOD MOMENTS ARE PIVOTAL MOMENTS AND MEANT TO MOVE US. THE LATIN DERIVITIVE OF THE ROOT IS “MOMENTUM” AND WE RECOGNIZE THAT AS A PHYSICS TERM, BUT IN SPORTS IT IS RECOGNIZED AS THE UNSEEN FORCE THAT TURNS THE TIDE OF A GAME.
GOD MOMENTS ARE ETERNITY INVADING TIME AND CHANGING A PERSON’S LIFE. IT IS A SUPERNATURAL MOMENT WHEN WE REALIZE GOD IS SPEAKING TO US. GOD MOMENTS COULD BE THE TIME YOU ACCEPT CHRIST, OR YOUR BAPTISM, OR THE TIME YOU REALIZE GOD IS CALLING YOU TO A SPECIFIC VOCATION.
HERE ARE JUST FIVE EXAMPLES OF GOD MOMENTS THAT MANY OF US MAY HAVE SHARED:
1. AMAZING RESCUE: A MOMENT WHEN GOD GUARDED YOU, HEALED YOU, RESCUED YOU, OR MADE A WAY OUT FOR YOU.
2. HOLY ATTRACTION: A MOMENT WHEN GOD LED YOU TOWARD A HEALTHIER PATH, ENABLED YOU TO RESIST A TEMPTATION, OR INSPIRED YOU TO TAKE A HIGH ROAD.
3. UNEARNED BLESSING: A MOMENT WHEN GOD GAVE YOU AN UNEXPECTED BLESSING OR AN UNDESERVED GIFT.
4. REVEALED TRUTH: A MOMENT WHEN GOD SPOKE TO YOU THROUGH THE BIBLE, INNER PEACE, WISE COUNSEL, CONVICTION OF WRONG, OR A GOD-INSPIRED MESSAGE
5. VALUABLE ADVERSITY: A MOMENT IN WHICH GOD SUSTAINED YOU IN A DIFFICULT TIME OR MADE YOU STRONGER THROUGH THE TEST OF ADVERSITY.
THERE IS ONE OTHER THING TO SHARE IN INTRODUCTION ABOUT GOD-MOMENTS. TRUE GOD-MOMENTS ARE FEW AND FAR BETWEEN. IF IT HASN’T LED TO A RECOGNIZABLE CHANGE IN YOUR LIFE, IT IS NOT A GOD-MOMENT. WHILE IT IS POSSIBLE TO HAVE MORE THAN ONE GOD-MOMENT IN YOU LIFETIME, IT IS ALSO TRUE THAT YOU WILL NOT HAVE MANY SUCH DEFINING MOMENTS. T6HE DEFINING ELEMENT OF A GOD-MOMENT IS NOT THAT YOU WILL HAVE SUCH MOMENTS BECAUSE YOU WILL, IT IS WHAT YOU DO WITH THOSE MOMENTS WHEN THEY PRESENT THEMSELVES.
