OUTFLOW Sunday 9 February 2020 [SLIDE 1] – Thanks Paula [SLIDE 2] OUTFLOW: WEEK 2 Fill ‘Er Up! [SLIDE 3] No one has ever seen God. But if we love each other, God lives in us, and His love is brought to full expression in us. 1 John 4:12 [SLIDE 4] BIG IDEA: Overflowing life depends on a personal relationship with God. God wants to pour an overflowing life into us and through us. But before God can fill us up, we need to have a living relationship with Him. So what does a living relationship with God look like? [SLIDE 5] Though evangelical Christians often talk about having a personal relationship with God, it is important to realise that this idea may sound foreign to people who have grown up in other religious traditions or who have had little or no contact with Christianity. Within our human relationships some of us have powerful connections. It is possible to have an even more powerful connection with God. Tim Hansel tells this story: Tim and his youngest son were climbing some cliffs. Suddenly his son jumped off the cliff into his arms, knocking both of them to the ground. Exasperated by this unexpected behaviour in a dangerous situation, he exclaimed: “Zac, why did you do that?” His son responded rather calmly, “Coz you’re my dad.” His whole assurance was based on the fact that his father was trustworthy. I can’t swim very well. I remember a time when we were visiting my sister and her family in Gaberone, Botswana. She was teaching our oldest son to swim. Our second son, Adrian, might have been two at the time. Alex was also in the pool. Adrian just kept jumping from the side into the pool to get to his dad. My nerves were on end, but they had such fun in the pool. They obviously trusted the adults. Worse than that, I remember being 16 or 17, which would have made my younger sister 12 or 12. Our dad dropped us at the swimming pool. Some guys came up to us. I told her not to talk with them. Anyway, they asked where we’re from. So she replied hat we’re from Cape Town. We were visiting family in the Northern Province of South Africa. They then said surely we must be great at swimming. I said “Nope, can’t swim”. My sister said: “We’re like sharks in the water” One of them picked her up and dropped her in the deep end of the swimming pool. I thought one of them might jump in after her. Nope, they just stood there, laughing. By then, I’m screaming at the top of my voice that she’s going to drown because we couldn’t swim. It felt very long before one of these boys jumped in and got her. I called my dad straight away to fetch us. As we waited I asked her: “What were you thinking while you were in the water?” Really mad at her for not listening. This was her reply: “I knew you would do something. I thought I must just hold my breath and wait for you.” I could only shake my head at her confidence in my ability to do something. But I was filled with indescribable gratitude towards God that I had my sister safely next to me. [SLIDE 6] Imagine God’s delight when we trust Him with such confidence. 1 An overflowing life depends on how we relate with God. Just as the happiness of a marriage depends on how a husband and wife relate, being filled to overflowing depends on the kind of relationship we’re experiencing (or not experiencing) with God. However close or distant you feel or are from God, a good question to ask yourself is “What kind of relationship would you like with God? What kind of relationships DON’T you want to have with people? [SLIDE 7] ➢ Stingy and self-focused ➢ Sour and legalistic ➢ Angry and vindictive ➢ Apathetic and uncaring If you are tired of being a perfectly normal, self-absorbed, self-focused person, I’d like to introduce you to the invisible God who not only promises to “guide you into all truth (John 16:13), but also to “never leave nor forsake you.” (Deut. 31:8) Maybe your biggest question today is how do you start a wonderful friendship and relationship with a wonderful and Almighty God. Many people see God in these negative terms. There are all sorts of distorted perceptions of God. Expert Norman Wright, a Christian Counsellor wrote a book called Always Daddy’s Girl. In it, Norman describes our tendency to ascribe to God the characteristics of our human fathers. He wrote: “If your father was a weakling, and you couldn’t depend on him to help you or defend you, your image of God may be that of a weakling. You may feel that you are unworthy of God’s comfort and support, or that He is unable to help you.” Wright goes on to list other descriptions of human fathers, such as critical, harsh, and discouraging, that may affect our view, not only of ourselves, but also of God. I remember once being harassed by a creepy guy on my way to and from the shop. When I got home and told my dad, he grabbed my hockey stick and set out to find this person. Can you imagine what that did for me as a young teenager? He didn’t accuse me of provoking the guy or didn’t say I shouldn’t have gone on my own. He set out to protect me. Even if a person has had a strong, warm and accepting father, it’s easy to absorb negative conceptions of God from other relationships and sources. We can even pick it up from well-meaning relatives who tell us that God will only love us if we behave well. “You better watch out, you better not cry, better not pout, I’m telling you why…” That’s not our God. The good news is our God is nothing like all these negative portrayals and lies about Him. [SLIDE 8] According to the New Testament, God is exactly like Jesus! John 10:30 Jesus says: “The Father and I are one.” Paul says in Colossians 1:15 Jesus “is the visible image of the invisible God.” [SLIDE 9] Later also in Colossians 2:8-9, Paul says “Don’t let anyone capture you with empty philosophies and high- sounding nonsense that come from human thinking and from the spiritual powers of this world, rather than from Christ. For in Christ lives all the fullness of God in a human body.” Jesus is generous. Jesus is accepting Jesus is forgiving. Jesus is interested in you! 2 As you can see, Jesus is quite different from the distorted ideas many people have of God. His approach to relationships is also quite different from the approaches many people take. POINT ONE: Jesus does relations differently Most human relationships are essentially self-serving. The famous poet W.H. Auden once said these tough words: “Almost all of our relationships begin and most of them continue as forms of mutual exploitation, a mental or physical barter to be terminated when one or both parties run out of goods.” That’s harsh. I’m sure all of us remember our high school days or even our place within our workplaces. There were always the popular crowd and the ones in with the boss! Unlike the popular kids in high or the ones vying for favour in the workplace, Jesus does not seek out relationships for what he can get from them. He’s not looking for acceptance or status or for people who will make him look good. Let’s look at some of the people Jesus chose to hang out with. As we look at these specific people, see which one reminds you of yourself. Then figure out what God is wanting to say to you today. [SLIDE 12] Simon Peter. If there is one thing that shows us that Jesus is not hung up on appearances, it’s the fact that he chose Simon Peter – the fisherman – as the leader of his apostles. Running a fishing boat is a dirty, smelly and dangerous job. Handling fish and nets all day and then getting the catch ready for market means being covered with sweat, blood and fish guts most of the time. And in Simon’s case there were the added issues of a hot temper and a seemingly inability to pay attention. Peter was probably not the sophisticated, level-headed executive most of us would have selected to lead a worldwide movement. Yet… Even though he didn’t look or smell the part, he was the person Jesus chose to build his church Jesus doesn’t care how people look or even how they view themselves. Rather, he sees past the ‘surface us’ to the us we’re created to be. [SLIDE 13] Nicodemus. Here’s person as different from Peter as you can get. Nicodemus was a well-respected religious teacher who came to Jesus during the night. Jesus didn’t agree to meet with Nicodemus because of his status. He was impressed by his education or his reputation. In fact, even though Nicodemus was this great religious scholar, Jesus had to explain the most basic ideas about having a relationship with God (Read John 3). The point here is that a relationship with God does not depend on our reputation or how well we know the Bible.