How to Hear God's Voice

Pt. Dave Kenney

1. God speaks through the Bible
2. God speaks to us through gifted teachers
3. God speaks through impressions
4. God speaks through pain.

Why is it so important to really hear God speak? There are three reasons:

1. It is assures me that I'm in God's family.
2. It protects me from mistakes.
3. It is the secret of a productive life, listening to God on a moment by moment basis (not only on dangerous situations)

God gives us impressions. But how do we know, it's from God?
1. DOES IT AGREE WITH THE BIBLE?
Luke 21:33 - God never contradicts His own word.

Let me "pray" about it, usually means No.

2. DOES IT MAKE ME MORE LIKE CHRIST?
Eph. 4:13 (NLT)
Gal 5:22-23 (NLT) - What would Jesus do?

3. DOES MY CHURCH FAMILY CONFIRM IT?
Proverbs 12:15 (NLT)
Proverbs 15:22 (ESV)
1 Cor 12:26 (NIV)
Proverbs 11:14b (ESV)

4. IS IT CONSISTENT WITH HOW GOD HAS SHAPED ME?
Eph. 2:10 (NIV)
Rom 12:6 (NLT)

5. DOES IT CONCERN MY RESPONSIBILITY?
We have area of our own responsibility.
When He speaks about other people to you:

• God uses you to confirm what He's already said to them.
• If God uses me to speak to someone else's life He will often do so without you knowing it. - we don't always know how God uses us.
• Trust God to speak to that person first before you talk to them. Pray that God speak to that person first.

6. DO I SENSE GOD'S PEACE ABOUT IT?
Philippians 4:6-7 (NLT)
Psalm 32:8 (NLT)
John 8:47 (TNIV)
Psalm 78:1 (NIV)

How To Hear God Speak

Pt. Dave Kenney
Luke 8:1-12

God speaks to every single people. And it's good news that He speaks to everyone.
He wants to have a communication based relationship.
The problem is, we misunderstand His words. Even most of the time we do according to our own understanding.
IES is not a non PROPHET organizations. :)

Luke 8:1-12

Attitude of your heart and how it reflects on, to how God speaks to us.

Luke 8:4-15
"Jesus said... He who has ears to hear, let him hear!" v.8b

How can we hear Him speak?

I. CULTIVATE an open mind : be eager
"...some seed fell along the path: It was trampled on, and the birds of the air ate it up." v.5

"Those along the path are those who hear, and then the devil comes along and take away the word from their hearts, so they cannot believe and be saved." v.12

The hardened path - because of the constant traffic. Usually narrow minded, not open to hear what Jesus speaks.

3 Causes:

1. Pride - "didn't need Good to tell me what to do"
2. Fear - out of afraid, then decide on not to listen.
3. Bitterness - cos our mind start to questioning God. You will be hurt in life. This not heaven, this is earth. But we have God. Our choices today will determine us becoming a better person or a bitter one. If we close our mind, we have close ourselves to the only ONE who can help us.

He didn't promise a god life (non pain life). But He promise to be with you to go through the pain life.
If problems occur, don't run from God. Instead run for God.

The first step in hearing God speak is I must cultivate an open mind.

II. ALLOCATE time to listen.
"Other seed fell on shallow soil with rock beneath. This see began to grow but soon withered and died for lack of moisture." v.6

"Those on the rock are the ones who receive the word with joy when they hear it, but they have no root. They believe for a while, but in the time of testing, they fail away." v.13
They didn't retain. You can completely be inspired/thrilled with The Word, but not be transformed.
Why God should teach us new things when we haven't resolved the old ones?

The shallow soil -

Secondly, we must allocate time to listen.

III. ELIMINATE the distractions. Give time for God to speak.
"Other seed fell among thorns which grew up with it and choked the plants. v.7
"The seed that fell among thorns stands for those who hear, but as they go on their way, they are choked by life's worries, riches, and pleasures, and they don't mature. v.14
Preoccupied our mind.

The soil with weeds

Define: [weeds']

A plant considered undesirable, unattractive, or troublesome, especially one growing where it is not wanted, as in a garden. Rank growth of such plants. Tobacco. A cigarette. Marijuana. A water plant, especially seaweed. The leaves or stems of a plant as distinguished from the seeds: dill weed. Something useless, detrimental, or worthless, especially an animal unfit for breeding. Slang Tobacco. A cigarette. Marijuana. v. weed·ed, weed·ing, weeds v. tr. To clear of weeds. To remove (weeds). Often used with out: weed out dandelions. To eliminate as unsuitable or unwanted. Often used with out: weed out unqualified applicants. v. intr. To remove weeds. [Middle English, from Old English wēod, herb, grass, weed.]

Weeds are signs of neglect

3 types of weeds

• Worries - you can't be worried and pray for God on the same time.

define [worry]
–verb (used without object)

1.	to torment oneself with or suffer from disturbing thoughts; fret.

2.	to move with effort: an old car worrying uphill.

–verb (used with object)

3.	to torment with cares, anxieties, etc.; trouble; plague.

4.	to seize, esp. by the throat, with the teeth and shake or mangle, as one animal does another.

5.	to harass by repeated biting, snapping, etc.

–noun

6.	a worried condition or feeling; uneasiness or anxiety.

7.	a cause of uneasiness or anxiety; trouble.

8.	act of worrying.

9.	Fox Hunting. the action of the hounds in tearing to pieces the carcass of a fox.

—Verb phrase

10.	worry along or through, Informal. to progress or succeed by constant effort, despite difficulty: to worry through an intolerable situation.

• Riches
• Pleasure - God invented FUN, but don't let those things to distracted but instead make it fulfill.

We must pay attention to God and what HE says to us.

IV. COOPERATE with what He says
You will never know how His plans will work. You can't tell God, let show me how it works, then I'll decide later. If God tells you to do something, you will only know 2 things: the first step, and the last step. What happened in between, you will never know.

"The seed on good soil stands for those with a noble and good heart, who hear the word retain it and by persevering produce a crop." v.15

Do you want to have a productive life?

"Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says!" James 1:22
Don't think if you came regular to church, or listen to worship music in your car, then you will have a productive life.

I will allocate time to listen MORE!
[God wants us to have a willing mind]

Making Our World A Better Place

Chris Long
Missions Weekend

2 Tim 1:15-18

Paul was blessed by someone that made his world a better place.
That someone is Onesiphorus.

Do you have a someone like that? Or maybe you could be that someone?

Paul talked highly about Onesiphorus.
What did he do?

1. Remained loyal and stood by Paul in times of destress.,

v.15

definition [Loyal] :

• firm and not changing in your friendship with or support for a person or an organization, or in your belief in your principles
• always supportive
  
• always liking and supporting someone or something, sometimes when other people do not

We need to be loyal to the ones who's precious in our life.
Loyal to our faith, to our family, friends, and nation.

2. Onesiphorus ministered to Paul's deepest needs.

v.16 - refreshed me (NIV) ; visited and encourage (NLT).

Rom 12:13 - Practice hospitality.
Usually Christians, they loved God SO much so gave all to God, and left nothing for others.

We can refreshed others with an act of kindness.

3. He was noble and not ashamed of Paul's sufferings

v.16b
Nobility - someone has to got standard classy, not mediocre. He's a class act that can affect people.

definition [Noble] :

noble (HIGH RANK)
adjective [not gradable]
having a high social rank, esp. from birth
a noble family related to the queen

noble
noun [C]
a person of high social rank, esp. from birth

nobility
noun [U]
the class or group of people who have a high social rank, esp. from birth

When Jesus was on the cross, He prayed for the ones who prosecuted Him.
They KNEW what they did to Him was wrong. And still He prayed for them!
People was like, "what? are you serious?"
Why?
Cause He's got class. He got standard classy.
He saw the case beyond everyone else.

Same thing happened to the murderer who's hanged beside Him.
He forgave him, and promised paradise to him, right now!

4. Onesiphorus had a shepherd's heart

v.17 On the contrary, when he was in Rome, he searched hard for me until he found me.
Luke 15:4-5

That's why, ministry isn't a business.
You go and search for the 1% who's lost, in need, etc. and leave the 99%

Onesiphorus traveled from Ephesus to Rome, just to go and found Paul.

It's a long way!



5. He came and helped Paul in many practical ways.

1 Corinthians 12:28 And in the church God has appointed first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then workers of miracles, also those having gifts of healing, those able to help others, those with gifts of administration, and those speaking in different kinds of tongues.

No one got excuses to say "I don't have a special gift like you to serve", cos there's a gift called a gift of able to help others. Everyone has this gift.

Why Bother?

Pt. Duane Danielson

Luke 18: 35-43
Luke 19:1-9

God did things differently
God do things differently

1. God Works in Different Places

v.35 - in ordinary place, a street.
v. 4 - an inordinate tree : Sycamore tree, in an ordinary street.

Nowadays, we usually think that God needs to do things only on stage, line up people, etc.
It doesn't work that way.

Ordinary Places VS Holy Places, Spiritual Places.

God will just intercede in ordinary places.

2. God Works in Different Person

A blind man, which also is a beggar. Usually people don't want to spend time to go deeper coz at the end they think they need to take care of the beggar.

Zacheus, a corrupt man. Do you want to do biz with this kind of people?

Jesus spend the day with an inordinate person.
Jesus just spend a small time in the world, but spend a day one on one with every person that He met.
He's more interested for the people who are on our least of list, just because we ourselves don't stand those bottom list people.

If you want to reach them, you need to reach further in the mud, and it's gonna be muddy. Also you need to get all "the crap" out, while you are pulling stuffs outside the mud.

It's gonna be:

• muddy
• complicated
• there's a time limit
• less return

but guess what?
Some of us, God strategically put us in "The Mud"

3. God Works in Different Plans

Sometime Jesus wants to interrupt our plan, coz He got bigger plan for us.

Imagine if the disciples has schedule Jesus, and the blind beggar is just not on the program. Would they stopped Jesus from interfering their plan, just becoz He need to stop for everyone?

v. 43 - Jesus has plans also for the blind man : Follow Jesus and praise God.

If we follow God's plan, it will transformed us immediately.
Transformation that effects you and your family.

4. God Works in Different Participation then we thought.

v.40 - what do YOU want ME to do?
v.5 - I must stay in your house.

He got personally involve with every single "prospect".
He didn't delegate to the disciples, but do it one on one.
Always have a daily interacting with people.

How do you need to be personal and on going with people?

1. Everyone need to pray for the harvest, by name.
2. Need to be giving more..
3. There's time when God us going to stretch you.
4. We need to go unto the fitness and work - figure our where God want to seed you.

Q&A Weekend

Can we challenge God?
Read the book of Job.
Just remember that God is not afraid of our questions!

Why do people pretend to be Christians?
Cos it's easy to do. Mostly think that they can just humble themselves every time they sin.They took advantage of that.

How do we know that God answers our prayers/not?

1. Pray in obedience to God. Not because we want something to happened. But because we ARE supposed to pray.
2. We don't have to pray everything that's happened ________ circumstances. The more we pray, the more coincidence we have. Pray because of obedience.
3. Don't become so rational. Just glorify the Lord.

Tithing somewhere else?
2 Corinthians 9:6-11
Everything belongs to the Lord.
Give wherever, however, whatever He leads.
As long as we give joyfully.

Gossip?
Eph 4:15 - share out of truth, share because of love, if not, STOP talking.

If you're asking the LOVE question, you will never gossip.
If you asked the GOSSIP question, you will never loved.

feel offended because of__
you are putting yourself as a weaker Christian.

IES Family Values

Pt. Dave Kenney

IES Family Values:

1. We don't care where you've been, we only care where you are going.
2. People over programs.
3. Everyone a minister.
4. God's Word changes lives.
5. Serious about our faith, serious about our fun, serious about our food.

1. We don't care where you've been, we only care where you are going - whatever past you have, it's a past.

Acceptance
Accept one another, then, just as Christ accept you, in order to bring praise to God. Romans 15:7

A place for people whose aren't accepted by others.

For you are all children of God through faith in Christ Jesus. And all who have been united with Christ in baptism have put on Christ, like putting on new clothes. There is no longer Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male and female. For you are all one in Christ Jesus. Galatians 3:26-28 (NLT)

Grace
For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith - and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God - not by works, so that on one can boast. Ephesians 2:8-9
We are saved by Grace through Faith, NOT saved by Faith. We are receiving Grace WITH Faith.

Grace means "Unmerited gift"

Growth
...so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. Ephesians 4:13
The sign of maturity is becoming more and more like Jesus.

IES is a river (that flows), not a lake.

Relational - cos we care where you're going.
Instead, we will speak the truth in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ, who is the head of his body, the church. He makes the whole body fit together perfectly. As each part does its own special work, it helps the other parts grow, so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love. Ephesians 4:15-16

Growth comes in relationship.
The reason why we want them to have a relationship is because Jesus loves us.

Intentional
For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. Ephesians 2:10

2. People Over Programs

People
-----------
Programs

We always take care of people, don't care about the program, or people divided by program

3. Everyone a Minister
It was He who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. Eph 4:11-13
You're not going to grow if you don't get involve in the ministry.

4. God's Word changes lives.
Romans 1:16-17 I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: "The righteous will live by faith."
1 Corinthians 6:9-11
v.9-10 - kind of things, that's unacceptable.

5. Serious about our Faith, Serious about our Fun, Serious about our Food.
Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again : Rejoice! Philippians 4:4

I rejoiced with those who said to me, "Let us go to the house of the Lord." Psalm 122:1

God accept us to be joyful people.

Faith That Prays

Oyan Simatupang

James 5:7-20

I. Sickness from the Outside.

1. Is any of you in trouble?
If you suffer, it should not be as a murderer or thief or any other kind of criminal, or even a meddler. However, if you suffer as a Christian, do not be ashamed but praise God that you bear that name. 1 Pet 4:15-16.

Our Response: When we are suffering, James tells us to PRAY.
Prayer can remove affliction.
Prayer can give us grace to endure affliction.

2. Is anyone happy?

Our Response: When we are cheerful, James tells us to PRAISE - celebrate the praises of God in Song. Bursting in Song is a spiritual.

II. Sickness from the Inside.

1. Is any one of you Sick?
James 5: 14-16 The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective. The prayer in faith.

Consider Him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. Hebrew 12:3
We will call it "sin-sickness"

Our Response:

• Call for the elders
• Confess your sins - not about bursting out our sins to others but also allowing / opening our heart to God.
• Receive ministry

The Elders will
Pray - And we urge you, brothers, warn those who are idle, encourage them the timid, help the weak, be patient with everyone. 1 Thessalonians 5:14
Listen - be a good listener
Anoint with Oil - a lipstantes : a rub with oil - bestowing, grooming - give extra attention to somebody, relaxation, coffee.

It he has sinned, he will be forgiven. Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. James 5:16b - 18

III. The Example of Elijah - Effective Prayer.
James 5:16b - 18

How long are you going to pray to gain victory?

IV. FAITH THAT WORKS - SAVING A SOUL
James 5:7-20

V. EVERYDAY APPLICATION.

• Afflicted? - Pray
• Cheerful? - Sing Praises
• Sin-Sickness? - call for help
• Ministering Others - Prayer for them, go to the extra mile.
• Want to make a different? - Bring someone to Jesus, pray for others, show them how you care.. :)