Seeing Beyond: Embracing Angels and Spiritual Awareness
Devotional
Sermon Summary
Bible Study Guide
Sermon Clips
### Quotes for Outreach
1. "If we grant the reality of an invisible world, the supernatural reality just beyond ours, why would we put limits on what's out there? It's kind of an interesting question, right? If we already believe in an unseen God, why not angels? Or if God can take on human flesh and become a man, why couldn't an angel do something similar, and why can he be the God of the universe?" [23:41]
2. "Have you ever sat down and just, like, read through the Bible or... But specifically with a particular theme in mind. Angels. Have you ever, like, read through the Bible thinking or just flipped through it and been like, Man, angels actually happen a lot in the Bible. They're not like this one-off, right? They're in the Garden of Eden, so the very beginning. They visit Abraham, Moses, many of the prophets. They're present with Jesus at his birth and his resurrection. They appear to Paul, Peter, John, Mary, and Zechariah. Right? They're all over the place." [18:53]
3. "When you think about prayer in your life, think about your prayer yesterday. If you prayed, when was it? If you didn't pray, when was it? Why not? Often we don't pray because the anxiety of doing all the things we have in life dominates. We become so focused on our circumstances that we forget about God who changes circumstances and our heart." [42:09]
4. "I was training for a very long run one spring. And I happened to have this knee injury that was kind of nagging. I showed up after a run. My knee was bothering me. I had it all, like, wrapped up. And I was going to the bakery for a sweet little treat, you know, a little reward. And the couple ahead of me was, like, I mean, I'm not the most patient. But these people were, like, objectively glacial. Like, I swear, they were asking about every single pastry. They were then chatting with each other about every pastry. Like, literally, I'm not, like, all that apt. I really wanted to say to the cashier, can I please cut these people? I didn't. In part because halfway through my fuming and irritation and just literally, like, I was like, I'm not the most patient. It was a literal stupefaction that someone could be this slow in line. The woman who is in the couple turns to me and says, what did God say about it after asking me about my knee? Like, I'm trying to get a pastry here. She's going all deep. Well, I might have brushed her off, except for that earlier that morning, I actually did feel like God told me not to go running that day." [19:50]
### Quotes for Members
1. "The difference between terror and calm is the ability to discern the presence and power of God through often his messengers, right? Elisha is calm because he sees the angels, and it's only when the servant sees the power and presence of God through his messengers that his worry becomes wonder. His worry becomes worship." [34:55]
2. "Is prayer your steering wheel or your spare tire? Just think about it, just in everyday life, right? Like, steering wheel, every time I drive, I grab it. The steering wheel is how I navigate through my car in life. The spare tire on Good Friday this year, I was pulling my car in, I don't know how I did it, but I popped my back tire on the curb, and pretty annoying. And I was like, oh, do I have a spare tire? Oh, where is it? You know? Oh, it's in the trunk. Oh, it's in the trunk. Okay. They're like, is it flat? Who thinks about their spare tire until they already have a flat?" [36:52]
3. "Give thanks. Now, the reason I think this is so important is we need to affirm at the outset of prayer, and particularly this kind of prayer, that God's primary posture towards us is love through his son, Jesus. There's two parts of this. One is giving thanks for God's character, right? Anchoring ourself in the grace and mercy and kindness of God. And then two, it's an affirmation of our identity as beloved children of the Father. God, I thank you as I start this prayer for your kindness to me. I thank you that standing in your presence, I am beloved in your eyes." [47:10]
4. "How often in life do we first approach God saying, God, change this, versus God, help me to see who you are and how you're moving in this moment. But Elisha isn't done, right? He knows the Syrian army is going to approach any moment. Like, awesome, the servant now sees. Yes. You know, that's in the win box. Love it. But now what?" [34:55]
5. "When was the last time you actually thought about, I wonder if there might be an angel in the room. I wonder if that person in the bakery actually is a messenger from heaven. There's a certain curiosity and playfulness that maybe there's this whole, whole invisible realm that we ignore, and often at our disadvantage. Because what you see in this servant is once he's aware of that, his fear goes away. How much of our fear, anxiety, worry is actually a result of our lack of awareness of the presence and power of God in our actual everyday life." [44:04]
Ask a question about this sermon
1. "If we grant the reality of an invisible world, the supernatural reality just beyond ours, why would we put limits on what's out there? It's kind of an interesting question, right? If we already believe in an unseen God, why not angels? Or if God can take on human flesh and become a man, why couldn't an angel do something similar, and why can he be the God of the universe?" [23:41]
2. "Have you ever sat down and just, like, read through the Bible or... But specifically with a particular theme in mind. Angels. Have you ever, like, read through the Bible thinking or just flipped through it and been like, Man, angels actually happen a lot in the Bible. They're not like this one-off, right? They're in the Garden of Eden, so the very beginning. They visit Abraham, Moses, many of the prophets. They're present with Jesus at his birth and his resurrection. They appear to Paul, Peter, John, Mary, and Zechariah. Right? They're all over the place." [18:53]
3. "When you think about prayer in your life, think about your prayer yesterday. If you prayed, when was it? If you didn't pray, when was it? Why not? Often we don't pray because the anxiety of doing all the things we have in life dominates. We become so focused on our circumstances that we forget about God who changes circumstances and our heart." [42:09]
4. "I was training for a very long run one spring. And I happened to have this knee injury that was kind of nagging. I showed up after a run. My knee was bothering me. I had it all, like, wrapped up. And I was going to the bakery for a sweet little treat, you know, a little reward. And the couple ahead of me was, like, I mean, I'm not the most patient. But these people were, like, objectively glacial. Like, I swear, they were asking about every single pastry. They were then chatting with each other about every pastry. Like, literally, I'm not, like, all that apt. I really wanted to say to the cashier, can I please cut these people? I didn't. In part because halfway through my fuming and irritation and just literally, like, I was like, I'm not the most patient. It was a literal stupefaction that someone could be this slow in line. The woman who is in the couple turns to me and says, what did God say about it after asking me about my knee? Like, I'm trying to get a pastry here. She's going all deep. Well, I might have brushed her off, except for that earlier that morning, I actually did feel like God told me not to go running that day." [19:50]
### Quotes for Members
1. "The difference between terror and calm is the ability to discern the presence and power of God through often his messengers, right? Elisha is calm because he sees the angels, and it's only when the servant sees the power and presence of God through his messengers that his worry becomes wonder. His worry becomes worship." [34:55]
2. "Is prayer your steering wheel or your spare tire? Just think about it, just in everyday life, right? Like, steering wheel, every time I drive, I grab it. The steering wheel is how I navigate through my car in life. The spare tire on Good Friday this year, I was pulling my car in, I don't know how I did it, but I popped my back tire on the curb, and pretty annoying. And I was like, oh, do I have a spare tire? Oh, where is it? You know? Oh, it's in the trunk. Oh, it's in the trunk. Okay. They're like, is it flat? Who thinks about their spare tire until they already have a flat?" [36:52]
3. "Give thanks. Now, the reason I think this is so important is we need to affirm at the outset of prayer, and particularly this kind of prayer, that God's primary posture towards us is love through his son, Jesus. There's two parts of this. One is giving thanks for God's character, right? Anchoring ourself in the grace and mercy and kindness of God. And then two, it's an affirmation of our identity as beloved children of the Father. God, I thank you as I start this prayer for your kindness to me. I thank you that standing in your presence, I am beloved in your eyes." [47:10]
4. "How often in life do we first approach God saying, God, change this, versus God, help me to see who you are and how you're moving in this moment. But Elisha isn't done, right? He knows the Syrian army is going to approach any moment. Like, awesome, the servant now sees. Yes. You know, that's in the win box. Love it. But now what?" [34:55]
5. "When was the last time you actually thought about, I wonder if there might be an angel in the room. I wonder if that person in the bakery actually is a messenger from heaven. There's a certain curiosity and playfulness that maybe there's this whole, whole invisible realm that we ignore, and often at our disadvantage. Because what you see in this servant is once he's aware of that, his fear goes away. How much of our fear, anxiety, worry is actually a result of our lack of awareness of the presence and power of God in our actual everyday life." [44:04]
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