Sermon Central
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Stewardship Series
Contributed by Eldon Reich on Sep 13, 2004 (message contributor)
Summary: Series on stewardship and how we guided by God in our living and giving.
STEWARDSHIP SERMON HOW GOD GUIDES
A man was on vacation and couldn’t find a business place and
stopped to ask directions. The man giving the direction replied:
"Just drive down this road about 5 miles and then turn left at the Stop n Go."
He drove 5 miles, then 6, then 7. At about 10 miles down he stopped for
directions again. The man he asked replied "Just go back down this road about
5 miles and turn right at the Stop n Go"
The traveler said: I have been there, there is no Stop and Go, Super America, or 7/11,
Oh no the man said: It’s on a pole. Red light on the top and green light on the bottom.
Don’t we all long for direction?
To have leadership that takes us forward.
Why do birds and animals, fish and whales
find their way in a vast ocean,
And we get lost in the next county.
The Arctic tern lives seven degrees south of the North Pole.
But that bird migrates 11,000 miles to Antarctica
and returns to seven degrees south of the North Pole.
How can it do that? Polarized light?
Navigating by sun and stars?
For the believer it’s simply that God gave the gift of guidance to the fleet flying bird.
What about the Atlantic salmon.
Birthed in its spawning area it swims downstream
and makes it over 900 miles out into the ocean.
And come back to the same tributary stream and beach to spawn again and again.
How can they do that? Are they sensitive to the slight chemical differences at the mouths of different streams? Or Are they guided by God gift of navigation.
We can take a 100 tons of metal put wings on it.
And punch in some coordinates and the GPS system
Will guide that plane not only to the city but also will land it.
Now if Man can do that to an airplane,
Can not our Creator God do that to a man?
What are Gods GPS points He uses to guide us?
HOW DOES GOD GUIDE US?
a. By direct intervention- voice from heaven,
b. By past failures and success.
c. By His Word—the Bible.
d. By the presence of the Holy Spirit-
e. By our peers,
f. By our conscience,
g. By our prayers and a relationship with Him.
Today I want us to look at the Israelites and see how
God guided them coming out of the land of captivity in Egypt
GOD GUIDES US
I. WITH HIS PROTECTION
God GUIDES US BY PROTECTING us from dangers
we have never seen and do not even know exist.
Next to the resurrection of the Lord,
The Exodus stands as one of the greatest expression of God’s power in the Bible.
600,000 men, with their families and animals,
2 million all together.
left Egypt and waked out to their destinies.
They not only left Egypt,
But Egypt asked them to leave.
There were two routes to the promised land.
Exodus 13:17 God did not lead them by way of the land of the Philistines, although that was near; for God said “Lest perhaps the people change their minds when they see war, and return to Egypt.”
(MAP: )
This Land route was called the Via Maris,
Means: “the way of the Sea.” Isaiah 9:1
The Israelites would have taken only 5 days to march straight
from Egypt to the Promised Land.
(Map: EGYPT ROUTE “way of the SANDJ
Instead God sent them home the long route.
They trekked along the water of the Suez Arm of the Red sea.
It appeared to be a bad alternative.
Having lived their for 40 years Moses knew,
that there was Nothing to eat or drink.
This was wilderness
(PICTURE OF WILDERNESS)
God direction for the future began with a detour.
Maybe we feel that way sometimes.
That We’re sent on a detour, and we have been abandoned by God.
Didn’t he hear me.
Didn’t I misunderstand him, hear him correctly?
At Sea World, a 6 year old absolutely refused to see the show
featuring Shamu the killer whale, but he wouldn’t tell why. No
amount of discussion could get him to change his mind.
Later, when they got home, they discovered the reason for his
reluctance. An aunt had told him how exciting the show would be
because "...they choose children from the audience to feed Shamu."
God guides us through protection:
The concept of crisis in Chinese is represented by two words,
"danger" and "opportunity."
When we manage the crisis of our lives following the example of Jesus Christ,
we are able to turn the dangers and disasters of life
into opportunities to fulfill the will of God.
God guides us by his protection
There were enemies there that the Israelites were not ready to face, like the Philistines