Can we know the will of God? How can we tell the difference between God’s ways and the ways of our culture? How can we discern the voice of God vs the voices of our personal ambitions or anxieties? How did the early church discern God’s will within its own cultural milieu? Join Pastor Jim for this practical study from Acts 11:1-18.
Sermon Notes
1. Watch for the Divine Initiative
“The trouble with nearly everybody who prays is that he says ‘Amen’” and runs away before God has a chance to reply. Listening to God is far more important than giving Him your ideas.”
Frank Laubach
2. Remember the Word of the Lord
“Just as at sea those who are carried away from the direction of the harbor bring themselves back on course by a clear sign, so Scripture may guide those adrift on the sea of life back into the harbor of the divine will.”
St. Gregory of Nyssa
3. Seek Confirmation from Godly Counsel
“The gospel pulls us into community. One of the immediate changes that the gospel makes is grammatical: we instead of I; our instead of my; us instead of me.” – Eugene Peterson
Reversed Thunder
4. Does it Build God’s Kingdom?
“The gospel is the dynamic for all heartchange, life-change, and social-change. Change won’t happen through ‘trying harder’ but only through encountering with the radical grace of God.”
Tim Keller
5. Does it Lead Me to Delight in God’s Glory?
“God is glorified not only by His glory being seen, but by its being rejoiced in. When those that see it delight in it.”
Jonathan Edwards
The End for Which God Created the World