Embracing Divine Appointments and Transformative Faith

Devotional

Day 1: Embracing Divine Appointments

God orchestrates divine encounters in our lives, as seen in the stories of Lori and Dale. These moments remind us that God is actively working and desires to use us in His plans. Our role is to be willing and available, trusting that He has already prepared the way. Lori and Dale's experiences serve as a testament to the unexpected and miraculous ways God can work through us when we step out in faith. By being open to these divine appointments, we allow God to involve us in His work, not because He needs us, but because He chooses to include us in His divine narrative. [00:12]

"Then the Spirit said to Philip, 'Go over and join this chariot.' So Philip ran to him and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet and asked, 'Do you understand what you are reading?'" (Acts 8:29-30, ESV)

Reflection: Can you recall a time when you felt prompted to speak or act in a situation? How can you be more open to recognizing and responding to these divine appointments in your daily life?

Day 2: Experiencing the Transformative Power of Christ

The story of Tom illustrates that Jesus alone can bring true freedom and authenticity to our lives. This transformation is not just a concept but a reality that should excite us and motivate us to share the gospel with others. Tom's life-changing encounter with Jesus highlights the profound impact of Christ's transformative power, which brings genuine freedom and authenticity. This transformation is a tangible reality that should ignite our hearts with excitement and expectation for how God can use us and our church community to spread His message of hope and redemption. [01:22]

"And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit." (2 Corinthians 3:18, ESV)

Reflection: In what areas of your life do you desire transformation? How can you invite Jesus to bring true freedom and authenticity to these areas today?

Day 3: The Power of Persistent Prayer

The testimony of the woman who prayed for the salvation of those in a dorm room reminds us that God hears and responds to our prayers, even when we don't see immediate results. We are encouraged to pray with expectation, believing in God's faithfulness. Her story is a powerful reminder of the impact that persistent prayer can have over time. Even when we don't see immediate results, we can trust that God is at work, hearing and responding to our prayers in His perfect timing. This encourages us to pray with expectation and faith, knowing that our prayers are never in vain. [02:59]

"Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving. At the same time, pray also for us, that God may open to us a door for the word, to declare the mystery of Christ." (Colossians 4:2-3, ESV)

Reflection: What is one specific prayer you have been waiting to see answered? How can you continue to pray with expectation and faith, trusting in God's perfect timing?

Day 4: Cultivating a Heart for the Lost

Jo's experience of receiving God's heart for the lost challenges us to ask for this supernatural gift. By doing so, we can love others with God's love and be moved to action in sharing the gospel. This supernatural gift allows us to see others through God's eyes, with compassion and love. By cultivating a heart for the lost, we are moved to action, intentionally engaging in conversations and extending invitations to know Jesus. This is a call to be proactive in sharing the life-changing power of the gospel with those who have yet to experience it. [04:16]

"For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost." (Luke 19:10, ESV)

Reflection: Who in your life do you feel called to share God's love with? How can you intentionally cultivate a heart for the lost and take steps to engage with them meaningfully?

Day 5: Intentional Conversations and Invitations

We are called to be intentional in our conversations, preparing ourselves to engage meaningfully with others. By extending invitations to know Jesus, we can see lives transformed and our church community grow. This involves being proactive in setting goals as a church community, inviting others to experience the life-changing power of the gospel. By doing so, we can witness the incredible work God can do through a united body of believers, as we see our gatherings grow and lives transformed by His love and grace. [12:51]

"Conduct yourselves wisely toward outsiders, making the best use of the time. Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person." (Colossians 4:5-6, ESV)

Reflection: What steps can you take to be more intentional in your conversations with others about your faith? How can you prepare yourself to extend meaningful invitations to those who may not yet know Jesus?

Sermon Summary

In today's gathering, we explored the profound ways God works through us, often in unexpected and miraculous ways. We began by reflecting on the stories of Lori and Dale, who encountered divine appointments while sharing their faith. These stories remind us that God delights in using us, not because He needs us, but because He chooses to involve us in His work. This is a call to action for each of us to step out in faith, trusting that God has already prepared the way.

We also heard the powerful testimony of Tom, a college student who experienced a life-changing encounter with Jesus. His story illustrates the transformative power of Christ, who alone can bring true freedom and authenticity to our lives. This transformation is not just a theological concept but a reality that should ignite our hearts with excitement and expectation for how God can use us and our church community.

The sermon also highlighted the importance of prayer and the impact it can have over time. We were reminded of the story of a woman who prayed for the salvation of those in a specific dorm room, only to learn years later that her prayers had been answered. This encourages us to pray with expectation, believing that God hears and responds to our prayers, even when we don't see immediate results.

Furthermore, we were challenged to cultivate a heart for the lost, as exemplified by Jo's experience of receiving God's heart for those who don't know Him. This is a supernatural gift that we can ask for, allowing us to love others with God's love. We were encouraged to be intentional in our conversations, preparing ourselves to engage meaningfully with others and to extend invitations to know Jesus.

Finally, we were urged to set goals as a church community, to be proactive in inviting others to experience the life-changing power of the gospel. By doing so, we can see our gatherings grow and witness the incredible work God can do through a united body of believers.

Key Takeaways

1. Divine Appointments: God orchestrates divine encounters in our lives, as seen in the stories of Lori and Dale. These moments remind us that God is actively working and desires to use us in His plans. Our role is to be willing and available, trusting that He has already prepared the way. [00:12]
2. Transformative Power of Christ: The story of Tom illustrates that Jesus alone can bring true freedom and authenticity to our lives. This transformation is not just a concept but a reality that should excite us and motivate us to share the gospel with others. [01:22]
3. Power of Prayer: The testimony of the woman who prayed for the salvation of those in a dorm room reminds us that God hears and responds to our prayers, even when we don't see immediate results. We are encouraged to pray with expectation, believing in God's faithfulness. [02:59]
4. Heart for the Lost: Jo's experience of receiving God's heart for the lost challenges us to ask for this supernatural gift. By doing so, we can love others with God's love and be moved to action in sharing the gospel. [04:16]
5. Intentional Conversations and Invitations: We are called to be intentional in our conversations, preparing ourselves to engage meaningfully with others. By extending invitations to know Jesus, we can see lives transformed and our church community grow. [12:51]
** [12:51]

Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[00:12] - Divine Appointments
[01:06] - Tom's Transformation
[02:25] - Power of Prayer
[03:59] - Jo's Heart for the Lost
[05:48] - Paul's Passion for the Lost
[07:01] - Maximilian Kolbe's Sacrifice
[08:22] - Normal Christianity
[09:27] - Christian Sacrifice
[10:49] - Supernatural Love
[12:25] - Intentional Conversations
[14:21] - Importance of Conversation
[17:32] - William Wilberforce's Example
[19:12] - Jesus' Questions
[22:04] - Meaningful Questions
[28:19] - Extending Invitations
[32:18] - God's Nearness and Knowledge
[37:45] - Holy Spirit U-Turns
[39:06] - Setting Evangelistic Goals
[42:43] - Responding to God's Call

Sermon Clips

"guys I am so uh I'm just so excited to be here with you like our our God is so incredible like the way he can change a life like Lori and Dale they go out to to share about him and like the first time they like they meet somebody who needs someone who knows sign language and and Lori does and then they meet someone who whose kid is is dealing with the with with the same thing like the first time that that they went out and then they go out a second time and they they meet someone she went to college with like if you have any question about whether God wants to use you like it's not a matter of who's gifted and who's not it's just who goes like our brother found a Bible on the street during the pandemic and came to the Lord like did you miss did you catch that like that's incredible like God doesn't even need us he can just stick a Bible in a bush on the street but he like he Delights in using us if we will just go and I'm just I'm so excited about that this morning" [00:00:00]

"this guy Tom uh college student journeyed with me and some of my friends for a number of days like worked through some some obstacles was was ready he wanted to pray to receive the Lord he bowed his head to pray it's the first time he ever prayed in his life and he prayed this beautiful raw prayer to Jesus and then he opened his eyes and these are like the these were the very first words that came out of his mouth as a Christian he said I have always felt alone and like I had to wear a mask but now this is the first time in my life that I can take off that mask and be fully myself and fully Alive nothing else can do that like no worldview can do that no philosophy can do that no program can do that like Jesus is the only one who can change a life in an instant like that and does that excite you you know like not just do you understand that that's true but does it make your heart pound like what are your expectations for this morning for how God can use you use this church you know could it be that there's somebody that's wandering around this park that needs to know the Lord before we leave today" [00:01:06]

"24 years ago just a couple years ago I met someone I was speaking somewhere and they came up afterwards she looked visibly like emotional and said did you say 122 jool leene Hall the room I came to Christ in I don't normally mention that detail but I happened to I said yes she said well I'm about 15 years older than you she said and I lived in 121 Jolene Hall in college she said and I spent my four years in college praying for the Salvation of the guys in 122 Jolene Hall all these years I felt like the Lord didn't hear that prayer didn't respond to that prayer but as you were sharing your testimony I just knew in my heart that he had heard that prayer word for word for the Salvation of the guys in 122 Jolene Hall 15 years before I even thought to turn my attention to the Lord he literally had a woman praying for the floor on which I dropped to my knees and gave my life to him like how could God use one of our prayers today or are we praying for the Salvation of of the people in this city for the the homes the literal floors in your neighborhood what are our expectations" [00:02:25]

"when my wife Joe was 13 she was sitting like you are she was listening at a a Christian Gathering to an Indian missionary and as she listened to him she could just hear this longing that he had in his heart for the lost and she remembers saying to the Lord I know I'm supposed to have that in my heart but I just don't like my heart is cold I don't feel anything towards those who don't know you and she said Lord would you would you break my heart for for the lost like this man's heart is broke for the lost and she's British so she kind of she thought this would be like a gradual you know big changes of emotion you know that's not really her thing she thought this would be like a gradual thing over the next 10 years her heart was s slowly slowly warm um for the loss but you need to be careful when you ask God for something and he just hit her and she just wound up on the floor in front of all these people just balling her eyes out and she just felt something of the Lord's heart for the lost and she's she's on the floor and she's weeping and she says that different faces just kept going through her mind you know every color every ethnicity every age and just a face would just stop in her mind and the Lord said would say would you go for them and she'd say yes and then would you go for him yes would you go for her yes and to this day whenever Jo prays for someone she stands over someone and puts her hand on them and prays for them she just weeps she just it's just an uncontrollable thing she just weeps as she prays for people because God gave her something of his heart for the Lost" [00:03:59]

"Maximilian a priest immediately stepped forward and he said can I take that man's place and he was allowed to and he went with nine others into that dungeon and ministered to them and prayed for them for the next two weeks until he died and that man who he gave his life for spent the rest of his life going around and telling people about the grace that he had received that seems crazy like put your put yourself in that situation that seems crazy but it's actually that's that's normal Christianity Jesus Christ laid down his life for us and we ought to lay down our lives for others and this is why Christianity spread in the first place first few centuries one of the biggest reasons that Christianity spread is because in the plagues in the first century and the third century when everyone ran for the hills that's where we get that phrase from everybody ran from the hills I don't want to get infected I don't want my family to get infected many of the Christians stayed they stayed in the cities to care for their infected neighbors who had the plague and many of them contracted the plague themselves and died in the place of some that they nursed back to health isn't that incredible like statistically through those plagues you were more likely to survive if you had a Christian as a neighbor like isn't that awesome like wouldn't it be awesome if we could be known like that again like you move into a neighborhood right and somebody's thinking oh this is awesome like a Christian just moved next door like if my family ever goes through something and they need somebody to make a real concrete sacrifice on behalf of my family I know the people next door are going to make that because that's what their gospel says that's what they believe who would you give your life for how many people would you give your life for next person you see walking by in this park probably not a Christian what if you had to choose what if you had to die or that person had to die what if you were maximilan Colby you're you're this happens you're sitting there what choice do you make that might seem humanly impossible your abs absolutely right humanly impossible and I'm thankful for that that's good news because if I had to try to muster up in myself that sort of love for other people not a chance but that's not human that's Supernatural That's a gift it's Romans 55 God has poured out his love into our hearts through the Holy Spirit which has been given to us it's not something we do something God does it's not our love it's his love it's a gift it has been given to us Joe my wife didn't manifest that in herself when she was on the floor and just felt the love of God for others she couldn't do that but she could pray for it are you asking him for this city for your friends your colleagues your your family what does that look like" [00:09:27]

"tomorrow someone is going to ask you how your weekend was right fine thanks how was yours that's not even true we just communed with the Living God that's not even an honest answer right like let's just promise to each other right now we're never going to answer that question again in that way for the rest of our lives let's say you get asked that question five times a week for the rest of your adult life right that's like 250 times a year let's say 60 years 15,000 times someone's going to ask you how was your weekend how many times have I said not bad fine thanks no no I met I met with my church family I know that probably sounds weird to you but I'm part of this community and it's not a natural thing it's a Supernatural thing and it's genuinely family and I know there are people that would make a sacrifice for me I don't even know what life would look like if I didn't have this community that was empowered by God in my life I know that sounds weird to you but it's my experience of life oh I would love to invite you into that would you ever be open to checking that out with me I want to extend an invitation to you let's just never answer that question again with fine thanks just think about the difference that could make in your convers ations over the course of your life just let's say a half hour of prayerful preparation asking the Lord how do you want me to answer that one question for the rest of my life how many meaningful conversations would that lead to how many invitations could that lead to" [00:12:25]

"Colossians 4 5 and 6 it says be wise in the way you act toward Outsiders that sounds like a good idea to me I'm for that make the most most of every opportunity sounds like a good idea how do we do that let your conversation be always full of grace seasoned with salt in other words well prepared so that you will know how to answer everyone how can we make the most of every opportunity the Bible says starting with conversation which really shouldn't surprise us if we know the life of Jesus because he took conversation really seriously he spent a lot of time talking with people and if you read through any one of the four gospels and ask yourself was Jesus more impactful in his preaching Ministry or in his conversational Ministry it's actually really hard to say And yet when it comes to our faith and what is important to our faith we probably never spend any time thinking about conversation if I ask you what are the most important spiritual disciplines in your life right some words will start to jump to mind Bible reading my quiet time prayer confession fasting conversation probably doesn't make the list I want to commend to you that I think biblically it should let your conversation be always full of graced seasoned with salt well prepared so that you may know how to answer everyone" [00:14:21]

"one of the people from his time said when the little man Wilbur Force came in late to a dinner party bristling maybe with launchers every face lighted up with pleasure at his entry maybe Jesus spent an hour or more after dinner or early in the morning right as he went away with his father thinking about who he was likely to see that day what they were likely to ask him and how he could respond in a in a meaningful way and maybe it's some of those launchers that we actually see recording in the New Testament and then there's Jesus's questions his incredible questions hundreds of them recorded in the New Testament which I find incredible because he didn't ask a single one of them because he needed the answer right he just asked these questions because it was a way of caring for the person in front of him how are we at asking questions you know as a society we're generally pretty terrible how are you doing did you have a good summer do you have a good vacation what's up how's work how's school did you see the game last night isn't the weather terrible I mean all is just you know you can answer almost every one of those questions with just yes no or fine easily 90% of our questions just stay on the surface of life and I think so often the reason we find it difficult to get from shooting the breeze to Jesus is because we spend such a high percentage of time just shooting the breeze right if we were in the habit of just entering into kind of this middle ground this Middle Ground where we're just trusting the Lord like even Lori said we didn't like explicitly share the gospel but but you went in wanting to focus in this Middle Ground of meaningful topics how can we bless people how can we listen well to them how can we have like deep questions to ask Jesus finds his way into those conversations quite naturally and so we need to be in the habit of asking better questions personally I have a list of questions on my computer if you ask me a great question today and we have a great conversation I'll stick it on the list okay if I try a question out and it doesn't work so well I'll take it off the list and then a few times a month I just read through this list of meaningful questions and hopefully that means that if I interact with you or somebody who I meet today the questions that are just rolling around in my mind are hopefully ones that the Lord has led me to and not just the boring superficial questions that the world tells me I should be asking" [00:22:04]

"have you ever had an experience in your life that has made you think there might be a God and if you ask that question of people and then don't save them like actually be willing for the Lord to wait through a little bit of awkward silence eventually many people will say well there was this one time when and then they will tell you the most ridiculous miraculous story like you've ever heard in your life and you're like wait a minute you told me you don't believe in God that happened to you like we need to talk about this like how do you reconcile that with your beliefs and the reality is many people just just haven't they had this one this two this three incredible experiences the Lord clearly reaching out to them but it didn't make sense in the context of the rest of their worldview so they just shoved it over in a corner somewhere just kind of shut the door never returned there that question have you ever had an experience that's made you think there might be a God just opens that door back up and often times you find God has been reaching out in incredible ways you know sometimes people can object that there's something maybe fake or prescriptive about being prepared for conversation in this sort of way and I get it sure of course conversation in large part has to be spontaneous it's an art not a science you can't just pre-plan it but what I'm saying is just God is Sovereign both in a conversation and days before it so when I'm in a conversation I want to be praying I want to be totally open to the Holy Spirit directing that conversation in the moment but I also don't want to limit the holy spirit in any direction and if the Holy Spirit decides he wants to give me a question to ask this person days or even weeks in advance I just want to be open to hearing from the Lord whenever he wants to speak" [00:28:19]

"invite people to Jesus no matter how great a party you are throwing and no matter how excited you are about the party and no matter how much you tell people how great the part is going to be if you don't actually extend an invitation to the party to someone it's not very likely that they are just going to show up and we don't want people to just know about this huge banquet that God is throwing we want them to actually be there we want to invite them we want to Rejoice with them are there people in my life whom I love dearly who maybe know that I'm a Christian they know that I love Jesus maybe I've even answered some of their questions about Jesus but if I'm honest I've never actually extended to them an invitation to follow Jesus would you like to follow Jesus would you like to join me in the Christian Life Is there anything that is keeping you from putting your trust in Jesus why do we so often not make invitations because you know an invitation should be a gift if I invite you to my wedding even if for some reason you've got a RSVP no you think you can't make it I have still honored You by extending the invitation to you as a church we have to find ways of prayerfully creatively extending the invitation in a way that makes someone feel actually I'm loved and I've been honored by the extension of this invitation" [00:32:18]

"the Bible says that God is not far from any person acts 1727 next time you find yourself thinking ah that person's so far from God I know what we mean but let's catch ourselves because God is not far from them and the Bible says Romans 1 19 this incredible passage because Paul is speaking about nonbelievers and he says for what is known about God is plain to them because God has shown it to them for his invisible attributes namely his eternal power and divine nature have been clearly perceived ever since the creation of the world in the things that have been made do you believe that it says in the verse prior that that knowledge might be suppressed but do you believe that in some sense you have never met someone that does not have in some deep sense knowledge of God not a single person for whom God has not made that plane and not just like anything about God but his eternal attributes his eternal power and divine nature I think the crisis of the church is that so many of us have stopped believing that and therefore we have stopped believing in the power of the gospel and therefore we have stopped making invitations but if you trust God's word when it says that God is near and God is known then you start to believe that in any conversation the very next conversation you have with someone he might break in because you're not doing this God's already been doing this God is already known and some deep sense by that person God is near it could be this conversation right now where a life is changed and then things get really exciting" [00:37:45]

"so I just want to encourage you guys God wants to use you he has already been at work it could be that very next conversation and I want to like exhort you and challenge you set some goals as a church like go after something together we set goals about everything that's important for us we do it at work we do it in sports right this is more important get together with others set a goal like this Gathering could so easily be twice the size next month half n non-believers if right now you actually set a goal as a community and say you know what we're we're each going to do everything we can to bring one non-believer next month we're going to focus our time together as an Outreach for them in my experience like real Evangelistic fruitfulness does not happen when you have a couple of super gifted evangelists who go and lead a 100 people to Christ it does happen when you have a United body of believers who a hundred of them all come together and say you know what we're each going to bring one we're each going to extend an invitation and you know every invitation will go well but maybe my invitation goes badly and Sean's goes really well I'm still part of that because I'm still part of this body that extended that invitation set some goals you know maybe maybe some of you are just feeling the Lord is wanting to do something right now and just go you know what we're not leaving this park until we have an opportunity to share with someone the good news of Jesus that we have experienced why should it be for us and not for the others in this park maybe some of you want to just band together just today and say we're not leaving this park Park until we have that opportunity come grab me I'll go with you set some goals" [00:39:06]

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