Hearing God

1
Hearing God

• Introduction

2
Made for Fellowship

• If you and I are made for fellowship with God, if
  we are intended to hear God, we will not
  experience life as God intended it when we miss
  hearing God.
• Presumptuous?
• Dangerous?
• Only for prophets and apostles?
• Gods plan for every person!

3
John 1415-18

• 15 If you love me, you will obey what I command.
  16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give
  you another Counselor to be with you forever 17
  the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him,
  because it neither sees him nor knows him. But
  you know him, for he lives with you and will be
  in you. 18 I will not leave you as orphans I
  will come to you. NIV

4
John 1515

• I no longer call you servants, because a servant
  does not know his masters business. Instead, I
  have called you friends, for everything that I
  learned from my Father I have made known to
  you. NIV

5
Made for Fellowship

• You and I are made for fellowship with God. We
  are intended to hear God, and receive guidance
  from him in the everyday matters of life and in
  pursuing Gods purposes in the world.

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Decisions

• Decisions have consequences.
• Dallas Willard consequences are relentless
• Consequences are personal. They can be major.
• Is is any wonder that many times we pray to God
  to guide us in our life decisions?

7
Hearing God

• By Dallas Willard
• Professor of Philosophy at USC
• A Christian, has served in ministry
• One of the most important Christian writers of
  the past 25 years
• One of the most helpful authors and speakers that
  Ive encountered

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Hearing God Series

• 10 weeks starting next week (breaks)
• Book available from our bookstore (11)
• Sunday School class led by Susana Sngiem (in
  English)

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Relationship

• Expectations limit us
• Hearing God is only one part of a healthy
  relationship with God
• Getting guidance for decision-making is only one
  part of hearing God

10
Being in Gods Will

• Being in Gods will is not the same as knowing
  Gods preference for every detail of our lives
• We can be in Gods will without knowing he
  prefers this action to another
• Consider parents and children
• Generally, we are in Gods will when we are
  leading the kind of life he wants for us.

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We must do what Gods commands

• If we fail to do things that God has commanded,
  we are not in Gods will.
• Even if we have no specific direction from God
  given to us, there are many ways of living that
  are not in Gods will.
• Consider the things we may know of Gods will
  just from studying the Ten Commandments.

12
Obedience

• Obedience to Gods commands is not enough!
• It is possible to obey every command that we know
  from God without being the kind of person that
  God wants us to be.

13
2 Corinthians 36

• He has made us competent as ministers of a new
  covenantnot of the letter but of the Spirit for
  the letter kills, but the Spirit gives
  life. NIV

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John 1415-18

• 15 If you love me, you will obey what I command.
  16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give
  you another Counselor to be with you forever 17
  the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him,
  because it neither sees him nor knows him. But
  you know him, for he lives with you and will be
  in you. 18 I will not leave you as orphans I
  will come to you. NIV

15
John 1515

• I no longer call you servants, because a servant
  does not know his masters business. Instead, I
  have called you friends, for everything that I
  learned from my Father I have made known to
  you. NIV

16
Many Claim Divine Guidance

• Suicide bombers
• Terrorists
• The mentally ill
• Televangelists
• Christian leaders
• Other Christians
• Some of the people sitting around you!

17
Life in Gods Will

• We will be consider hearing God as it bears upon
  a whole life in Gods will.
• Who does God want me to be?
• What does God want me to do?
• Life that leads to This is my beloved child, in
  whom I am well pleased.

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Topics

1. Practical difficulties in the practice of hearing
   God. (March 29)
2. Guidelines and misunderstandings. (April 5)
3. The ways God is with us. (April 19)
4. Objections to the idea of hearing God. (April
   26)
5. How does God speak? (May 3)

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Topics

1. Gods Word and Gods rule. (May 17)
2. Gods Word and redemption. (May 24)
3. How can we be sure? Recognizing Gods voice.
   (May 31)
4. When God seems to be silent. (June 7)
5. Now what? (June 14)

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For Memorization

• John 1415-18
• John 1515
• 2 Corinthians 36
• John 155