SERMON OUTLINE, APRIL 26 AM, 2009

 

Pastor Peter Hogeterp

 

“You Can’t Talk and Listen At The Same time” – The Power of Silence

(The Second Biblical Building Block of the Transition Process)

 

1. Communication is the tool that brings us into communing (becoming one) with another.
               a) Communication is a 2-way Street

               b) It requires a talker and a listener

               c) If “it’s not about me and it’s not about you” but it’s about God,

then we need to LISTEN to Him reveal His will to us.

 

2. Two Old Testament Examples of listening to God:

a)     Moses listens to God in the Burning Bush

i)                   God has to get Moses’ attention

ii)                 Moses has to learn that it wasn’t working when he did it his way

iii)                God was ready to reveal His way.

b)     Elijah listens to God in His “still small voice.”

i)       God was not in the destructive wind                 (WIND)

ii)      God was not in the earth-splitting earthquake  (EARTH)

iii)      God was not in the consuming fire                            (FIRE)

iv)               God communicated in “a gentle whisper”

 

3. God is calling us to learn the spiritual discipline of SILENCE

a)     The Transition  Process is designed to help us give up our idea for our future and discover God’s future for us.

b)     Our minds do not have control over us; we have control over our minds.

c)     Prayer is more listening than talking.

i)                   God knows way more than we do; He’s the Wise One here

ii)                 We will not discover His will for us if we do all the talking

iii)                Observe Moses and Elijah in listening mode.