Going on a God Hunt – Part 19

We continue, today, to explore a very critical spiritual disciple that we call Going on a God Hunt. What we’re doing is learning how to look for evidences of God making his presence known in our everyday worlds. Specifically, we’re exploring evidence of God giving us help to do His work in this world.

God can call you to serve him in any of a number of ways. And not that infrequently you can feel inadequate. But the secret at all such times is to remember that you are not alone. He’s right there with you to help, to assure you of his presence like he did Gideon, to provide what’s needed when we say “Lord, help me,” like Arlin Schrock wrote about.

Here’s another example of help to do God’s work in the world from the devotional publication, Our Daily Bread:

 James Gilmour, missionary to Mongolia, was once asked to treat some wounded soldiers. Having only first aid knowledge, he did his best with the first two men but didn’t know what to do with the third soldier whose thigh bone was badly broken. Gilmour knelt beside the man and prayed for direction. Soon after a crowd of beggars walked by. The missionary gave them some money and then noticed one beggar who was hardly more than a skeleton. He asked the man if he could examine him. Carefully tracing his fingers over the man’s thigh bones, Gilmour was able to learn enough about anatomy to set the fracture in the soldier.

Here’s an appropriate quote from Karen Mains in her book The God Hunt: The Delightful Chase and the Wonder of Being Found. It reads:

 Initially people often have difficulty understanding this category—help to do God’s work in this world—so allow me to state that it is not only people in professional ministry who are helped to do God’s work in the world.

Every Christian is God’s representative. Whenever we do something that brings forth good, that stands for what is just, honest and true, that witnesses to his love, that shares the good news of the gospel; we have been helped to do God’s work in the world.

Someone writes a note, someone drops past a hospital room. Young fathers take care of six children combined, all under the age of eight, so their wives can spend an evening together enjoying their friendship without the urgent interruptions of offspring. A crippled senior and her friend make up packages of treats to distribute in their retirement complex’s nursing center. A Sunday school class organizes and conducts a protest march at a proposed abortion clinic. Internationals are invited for dinner. Children who have been abused are adopted into a family. Volunteers clean the church kitchen, stuff letters for a not-for-profit, travel overseas and donate medical expertise. All this, and thousands of other unnamed deeds of kindness, are God’s work set loose into the world. Recognizing his help to do this work is part of the God Hunt.

And whatever it is we do on God’s behalf, it’s important to remember that he hasn’t left us to function by ourselves. Not only does he want us to expect his help, we have every right to ask for it and then to look for it. That’s what this category of the God Hunt is all about—any help we see him giving us as we do his work in the world.

Most ministers pray all the time for this divine aid:

 “Lord, I can’t seem to unlock the way this sermon should unfold.”

“Jesus, I need understanding in how to counsel this person.”

“Can’t you come up with a little more in terms of financial resources, God?”

“I’ve got way too much on me; isn’t there someone who could lend a helping hand?”

And, when the sermon comes together beautifully, or the insight is there, the donation arrives in that week’s mail, or the friend says, “I have 3 days I want to give you just to be a church gopher” … well, these, of course, are God Hunt Sightings that make serving Jesus exciting.

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Sunday’s coming. Do you have your sermon ready? Is it relevant? Will it effectively motivate your congregation to walk more in step with the Master? What about that Sermon Series you’ve been thinking about?

Or, if you’re someone who plans well ahead, have you asked yourself what you will preach for your Easter Sermon, your Advent Sermon, your Christmas Sermon?

David Mains and Mainstay Ministries can help. We offer a wide variety of Sermon Starters and Full Sermons that will give you Sermon Ideas to help you prepare for regular Saturday or Sunday sermons, Mid-week Bible Sermons, and Sermons for special occasions.

We also offer assistance as you create Topical Sermons, Sermons Series, and sermons for special times of the year. We have resources available to help you with Advent Celebrations, Advent Sermons, Christmas Sermons, Easter Sunday Sermons, Patriotic Sermons, and more.

For more information on how to create better Bible Sermons and how to turn Sermon Ideas into Sermon Outlines, and then into effective, meaningful Sunday Sermons, please click here to visit David Mains’ website.

You will also find a variety of resources for pastors and congregations at the Mainstay Ministries website. Just click here.

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