When God Calls Your Name
I'm starting a sermon series called "When God Calls Your Name" and in it, I'm focusing on several passages of scripture where God (or Jesus) calls someone's name twice. This week it's "Moses, Moses" as God calls Moses from the burning bush. We'll also look at "Martha, Martha" "Saul, Saul" and "Jerusalem, Jerusalem."
This is a strangely tough sermon series for me to write because I'm not sure where I'm going to go on each sermon. Usually in a series, I have a pretty good idea of where I'm going in each sermon and I know in advance what the individual topics for each week will be(the Armor of God series, for example). But I'm not sure where God will be taking us in this series.
Part of it is because God seems to call each person differently. He called Moses from a burning bush. Jesus spoke gently to Martha. God spoke from a blinding light to Saul. Jesus wept over Jerusalem. Add to it all the times when God spoke (and didn't say the name twice) and you've got: face to face (Adam and Eve), a voice in the night (Samuel), a still, small voice (Elijah), through an angel (come on, I can't list every time an angel spoke!), and then there's "the word of the Lord came to..."
So, how does God speak to you?
3 comments:
Hi, we don't know each other, and i'm not quite sure anymore, how I came to finding your Blog. My name is Jonny McCormick and I'm from Northern Ireland. There that's my introduction over and done with. Your blog has been on my blog reader for a while now, and I have enjoyed reading it for a long time. I have however as you know not commented. I am a young Preacher from Northern Ireland, however I have spent the last 3 months doing some missional work in Canada. This past 3 months something we as a team have looked at quite a lot is God's calling, and more specifically God's Nudges. I don't know your feelings on them.
I believe (and the people I was working with believe) that God can speak through what we have called nudges. That meaning that we don't necessarily fall to our knees awestruck at the sight of an angel, or hear a booming resounding voice telling us specifically what to do, but we are sometimes just feel a gentle nudge in our heart and soul. I strongly believe that whilst God has spoken to me in various ways one way is through his nudging. I have once felt that he was nudging me to go Downtown late one Friday night to Belfast city centre, and feed and spend some time with homeless people, and to me it was quite apparent that it was a Godly nudge afterwards due to the way I was able to minister to those people, it was evident that God's hand was in it. I believe however with a nudge it is more subtle, and not necessarily something we always respond to. Again I will give an example in my own life. There is a hospital in Belfast called the Mater, and everytime for about 4 weeks, I drove past that particular hospital I felt as though I sshould go in. I cast this aside as me being fickle and in some ways crazy. I now look back however and think that was God nudging me, and i ignored it, and it disappoints me. Perhaps htere is someone he wanted me to meet, perhaps there is something he wanted me to do, now I'll never know. I was annoyed at myself for a while afterwards until someone reminded me that God is bigger than just me, and if the something that needed done actually NEEDED done God would have got it done somehow.
Sorry if you think I am rambling, just thought I would through my 2 cents in. If by any chance you ever want to get in contact with me, and you don't want to do it through my blog, you are welcome to email me at jonny@jonny-mac.com
Hope to hear from you sometime, and you will remain in my prayers as you enter this new sermon series.
God is good...all the time.
AS with Jonny, here, God mostly speaks to me with nudges but sometimes they are hard nudges because I am not listening very well-and I have a hard head. Sometimes I just know I have to pray for someone, for example and i also know if someone comes to mind more than once in a day, it is imperative that I stop and pray. Mostly, right now, that is the area that He nudges, or yells at me for, but other things too.
Right now, in a decision I am needing to make, it is from another Christian that I respect. I do need to wait on the Lord and that is hard for me to do.
Because of my strong personality and vivid imagination, I have to wait to make sure it isn't "me" speaking to me! Once, I prayed about a decision and everytime I did, I felt terribly sad and upset but thought I was being selfish--the Daughter did too--. Well, I went ahead and it was a disaster! God was really telling me "no" even though I was trying to do it in His Name. Wasn't for me!! So now, I try and wait a while.
On the other hand, the Dad seems to always know when God is speaking to him. Seems to come loud and clear-mostly about giving cause he, well, you know.....
I remember when I was agonizing over my decision to enter the ministry. I was sitting on the living room floor, reading the Bible and praying. Asking God if he really wanted me to do this. I felt a hand stoke the back of my hair. I thought it was my daughter sneaking out of bed (she was 5 0r 6 a the time). I looked around and there was no one behind me. I remember just a sense of peace and I have never truly doubted my calling since then. I have questioned my sanity but not my calling.
Of course, God had to use a 2x4 to get me attention before I even became a Christian but that's another story.
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