SERMON SUMMARY
Sunday, January
20, 2008
The Year of Visitation
Sermon given by Senior Pastor, Dan Tabolt
"Your State,
but Not Your Fate"
GPS = Global Positioning System
The Global Positioning System (GPS) is a satellite-based navigation system
made up of a network of 24 satellites placed into orbit by the U.S.
Department of Defense. GPS was originally intended for military
applications, but in the 1980s, the government made the system available
for civilian use. GPS works in any weather conditions, anywhere in the
world, 24 hours a day. There are no subscription fees or setup charges to
use GPS.
One of the movies that have come out in recent years was, “Cast Away”,
staring Tom Hanks. A fed ex supervisor, Hanks became marooned on a
deserted island for five years. One of the packages that was washed up on
shore he saved, unopened and returned it to the customer after his rescue.
There was a quiet commercial for Fed Ex that came out after this in which
a Fed Ex man shows up at the door after being marooned for five years and
delivers a package that he saved during his time on a island. After
delivering the package his curiosity gets the best of him and he asks the
people he had made the delivery to what was in the package. The people
responded with “not much, it just had a GPS system along with a solar
powered satellite phone system.
Prov 13:23 Much food is in the fallow ground of the poor, NKJV
I think that this is a great illustration of the opportunity we have right
in our hands as Christians. Sad to say that many of us make the same
mistake that the Fed Ex man made, we never open the package. We accept our
state as being our fate and fail to reposition ourselves for change.
Gen 3:9 The LORD God called to Adam, "Where are you?" NLT
Navigational systems. They save us hours on a trip as they help us avoid
needless delays by simply telling us where we are in relation to where we
are going.
If we are to overcome our failures and disappointments in life, we must
develop our own navigational system. While such a system only provides
location and direction – not fuel, not the power to see, not the ability
to choose the destination – such information is nonetheless crucial for
navigation. You must locate where you are.
I. Fate or State.
A great question that we can ask ourselves those times that we find
ourselves stuck sinking in the sand of a situation that seems to be going
nowhere.
Do I have to accept this as my fate or simply as a temporary state? If it
is my fate, then am I finished? But the truth in most situations is that
it is not your fate, it is simply the state that you are in right now. If
there in that state, you will raise up and do those things that must be
done, your situation will change.
I answer that I was in a state, one that I could fashion, transform, and
resist. I do not give into despair, but rather persevered.
The Story of Joseph. [Genesis 37-50]
You have to identify who you are and where you are in order to find your
gift, your voice. For Joseph it was the power of his dreams. You must
speak up and gain your power to move beyond the present prison even if it
involves confronting a situation that has left you feeling degraded,
defeated, uncertain and irrelevant.
II. Finding where you are. GPS of life.
I would like to speak about five different states we may find in ourselves
in life’s journey. If you can, you can be honest about where you are, it
may help you to know how to successfully navigate to your next step.
1. Revelation
This is the stage where we discover our career, our companion, or some new
opportunity of significance. There are those times in your life that the
light is just turned on and you see things different than you ever did
before.
In Scripture, revelation often literally means to “unveil”.
The Most powerful relationships we can have are with those who help us see
what we didn’t see before.
Matt 16:16 Simon Peter answered and said,"You are the Christ, the Son of
the living God." 17 Jesus answered and said to him, "Blessed are you,
Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My
Father who is in heaven. 18 And I also say to you that you are Peter, and
on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not
prevail against it. 19 And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of
heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and
whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven."
2. Inspiration
This is the second stage. It provides more of the fuel that will be used
to ignite the passion you will need to get through the battle you will
face to get were your revelation has shown you.
Example:
a. It is the moment that you decide to take things to the next level.
b. When you turn in your resume.
c. Write a letter of intent.
d. You decide to commit to a pattern of change.
Many procrastinators never seem to gather enough momentum necessary to
achieve because they lack the inspiration to overcome adversity that may
stand in their way.
Matt 19:16 Jesus Counsels the Rich Young Ruler
Now behold, one came and said to Him,"Good Teacher, what good thing shall
I do that I may have eternal life?"
3. Formalization
This happens when the inspirational stage has ended with a positive
response such as “your hired” or an acceptance letter from a University.
It is the point where the issue has come to the place that requires a more
formalized commitment.
This is the point where you sign the deal and it becomes a formalized part
of your life and existence.
Matt 19:29-3029 And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or
father or mother or wife or children or lands, for My name's sake, shall
receive a hundredfold, and inherit eternal life. NKJV
4. Institutionalization
This is the stage that often the trouble begins. Everything is on remote
control. Things begin to be almost meaningless. Life seems to be on cruise
control. We really don’t know why we are doing what we do anymore.
I was asked recently why the established church in some cases does not
seem to have any real impact on this generation. In some cases it has
become more of an institution than the living organism that it is to be.
5. Crystallization
This stage is the graveyard of what used to be. Deterioration has taken
its toll. There is little left that functions the way it once did. We have
become fossilized.
Gen 3:9 The LORD God called to Adam, "Where are you?" NLT
III. Returning to the Beginning.
The church Fathers kept returning to Jerusalem whenever things went awry,
it was their way of going back to stage one.
Rev 2:4 Nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left your
first love .
Zech 1:3 Therefore say to them, 'Thus says the LORD of hosts: "Return to
Me ," says the LORD of hosts, "and I will return to you," says the LORD of
hosts. NKJV
“Your State is not Your Fate”
It can and will be changed by your response to the Lord…
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