Pastor Cal Lord's Recent Sermons
Are You Listening For God’s Voice?
I Samuel 3:1-8 January 19, 2003
What Are You Listening To? What is it that causes you to stop and take notice? We all have that
trigger in our brain that kicks in when certain voices are heard, when certain things are said.
Just mention baseball and my antennae sticks up. Mention the name of one of my kids and I
suddenly stop and pull my head out of the sand. You know People have a tendency to hear only
to what they want to hear. We have so many filters and defense mechanisms up here that we
often don’t hear what is being said all around us.
To illustrate the point, a fellow named Keith Downing shared a story about his Uncle. Apparently
his uncle noticed that every time he ate his favorite food, pork rinds, his foot pained him
immensely that evening. The family physician confirmed his suspicion of pork-induced gout, and
when the uncle returned home from the doctor’s office, his wife asked him how the appointment
had gone. His uncle plopped off his shoes and replied, "The doctor says there is not much he
can do. I’m going to have to put up with gout about 3 times a week."
Do you know someone like that? When you look at the Bible, it points out that this seems to be
part of the human condition. It says "The heart is deceitful above all things," meaning we hear,
we believe what we want to hear and believe, even if it isn’t the truth. God says it right out in the
book of Ezekiel. He says "these people have ears to hear but they never hear... eyes to see, but
they never see" (12:2).
So throughout the scriptures, we see God continually crying out and trying to get our attention.
• Hear, O Israel, the statutes and judgments which I speak in your ears this day, that you may
learn them, and keep, and do them
• Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one.
• Hear, O Israel the word which the LORD speaks unto you
• Give ear, O ye heavens, and I will speak… and hear, O earth, the words of my mouth
Why does God want us to listen? Because he has advice for us and because he wants to share
his blessing with us. We read
• Hear, O Israel, and be careful to obey/ so that it may go well with you
• Incline your ear, and come unto me: hear, and your soul shall live; and I will make an
everlasting covenant with you, [even] the sure mercies of David
A perfect example of this whole thing comes to us in the book of Samuel. Samuel was a little
boy who was serving in the temple in Jerusalem. He was “an alter boy” if you will, not more
then ten years old. His job was to study and help the priest. And he basically stayed right there in
temple to do his service. And it is here where God first calls his name.
We read in I Samuel 3:3-4 that Samuel was lying down in the Temple of the Lord, where the Ark
was when he heard a voice.
Now, I believe that every word of Scripture is there for a reason. For example, in this passage,
God could simply have said: “Samuel was sleeping” BUT God goes into detail. It’s as if God is
saying: "I want you to know exactly WHERE Samuel was sleeping."
You see, God wanted us to see that when Samuel heard God’s voice he was sleeping right
NEXT to God. In Other Words: Proximity is important: If you’re gonna hear – you’ve gotta be
near.
James tells us "Draw near to God and he will draw near to you."
Have you ever been talking to someone and they begin moving around . It happens in our house
a lot. Someone will be talking and to the other person, while they are picking up or looking for
something, or getting ready to go. And the discussion takes place moving from room to room to
room. And we all know, you can’t hold a discussion unless you are in the same room.
And that is true with God too. If you’re going to hear God’s voice; if you’re going to know His
will - you’ve got to be in the same room as He is. That’s why Church attendance is so important.
That’s why Bible Study should be in our weekly plans.
I can’t tell you how many people I’ve met, who have come to me in the middle of some crisis
saying, “I just can’t hear God speaking. I want to know him. I want to get close to him. But I
don’t hear anything. I can’t feel him.” And many of these people haven’t been to church in
months or even years.
Now I loved the old movie with John Denver and George Burns called “Oh God.” In that movie
God came to Denver’s character and began speaking to him out of the blue. And I believe that
happens. But Samuel’s story reminds us that if we want to hear God’s voice, the best place to
hear it is in a place where we suspect God is. Jesus said: "Wherever two or more are gathered in
my name - there I am in the midst of you." And that is church or a Bible Study or a prayer
group.
But you can even take it a step further. If you want to hear God’s voice, then you need to spend
some time in prayer. You need to invite him into your world and ask him to come to you.
Because the Bible says if you seek, you will find, if you call, he will answer. You’re not going to
find him out there unless you put yourself in a position to get close to him, So, the first thing we
need to work on is "being in the same room" with God.
Secondly, we need to work on our priorities. There will be times when listening to God will be
inconvenient. Look at verses 8 & 9 again. Samuel was sleeping when God called. He woke him
up in the middle of the night. I don’t know about you, but when I am tired, when my sleep is
interrupted, I get grouchy. That is not the time to be playing games. And yet, sometimes that is
the only time God can get our attention.
Wouldn’t it be nice if God only spoke to us on Sunday mornings between 9 a.m. and noon.
Wouldn’t it be nice if all God wanted us to do was worship him for two hours a week. But that
is not the case. God is speaking to us all the time and he may just call upon us when we have ten
other things to do. He may call out your name when you are right in the middle of something
you deem important. What’s worse is that if we hear God’s voice at this inopportune moment,
he may be asking us to do something that doesn’t fit into our agenda.
And we are creatures of habit. We like to lay out our schedule so we know what is happening
next. We like to be in control. And when God calls, he often will ask us to put aside our own
plans to do something for him.
When was the last time that happened to you. When was the last time God spoke to you, asking
you to consider doing something you hadn’t planned on. And did you listen to him or tune him
out?
I know that sometimes I tune things out that I don’t want to hear. If I’m asked to do something
I don’t want to do, it tends to slip my mind. I don’t do it on purpose, but that task somehow,
subconsciously slips out of sight. It moves right down on my priority list and may just sit there
on the edge of my consciousness. And I’ve probably done that to God more times than I can
remember and so have you.
I’ll never forget a call I got from my step mother when Lori and I were living in Rhode Island.
Her father was very sick and had gone in for open heart surgery and she was very depressed.
As she talked she told me how surprised she was that our minister hadn’t come by to visit. She
told me that he always seemed to show up just when she needed him the most, as if he had a
“sixth sense.”
Foolish me: I asked her if she had called him. How else could he expect to know what she was
going through?
But I have to tell you, as a pastor and as a Christian, I think God does speak to us at times and
urges us to make a phone call or stop and visit someone who is going through a difficult time. I
have had enough of these experiences where I suddenly had the sense that I should call someone
or go and see someone, only to find out that I was going at just the right moment. And I’ve had
enough of the opposite experiences, where I felt that urge and decided not to go, only to find out
later that it would have been a blessing if I had gone.
But some times it is too inconvenient. Sometimes it doesn’t fit our schedule. Sometimes, we
just aren’t open to listening for God.
But the truth is, that if we are going to hear God’s voice, we need to be open to him whenever he
calls. We need to be willing to answer and go wherever he sends and learn to be inconvenienced
every now and then.
Finally, in order to hear God, we have to give God permission to speak to us. In I Samuel 3:9 &
10 we’re told Eli’s advise to Samuel. His advise was simply to give God permission to speak.
He said, respond by saying “Speak Lord, Here I am.”
You know God isn’t pushy. He doesn’t bully us into listening. We have to want to listen to him
and let him in. He’ll stand knocking at the door like he is depicted in the stained glass window up
above us. But he won’t enter in unless we extend the invitation. Samuel could have simply said,
“Go away!” and God would have been still. But he invited God to speak and it changed his life.
Samuel went on to be the first of God’s Judges and had the distinction of anointing God’s first
kings in Israel. He went on to serve god for many years and was blessed by it.
The same is true for us. If we give God permission to speak to us, he will bring blessing to us.
Even if it seems inconvenient or proves to be something we don’t feel comfortable doing, God
will turn it around so that we will know his joy.
Pastor Scott Harrell tells the story of a man named Roy. Roy had regularly attended church as a
child, but was raised in a bizarre, legalistic church family that warped his life. At church, his dad
was a pillar, active in the church and even served as a deacon, but at home, dad was an abusive
monster.
As soon as he could, Roy bolted from the church and wanted nothing to do with it. He was a
crude, rude man who looked out for number one. He didn’t pretend to be one thing at church,
while he was something else at home, he didn’t pretend at all. Roy was a scoundrel and a cheat,
and he didn’t care who knew it.
When he turned 60, Roy started coming to church again. something was missing in his life and
he began searching for it. He wasn’t sure if the church or even God had anything to say to him
but he figured maybe he missed something. His life had been pretty miserable and going it on his
own hadn’t gotten him anything.
So he started showing up. He’d walk in late, sit on the back row and listen for a while, but would
always leave before the service ended. Pastor Scott would try to witness to Roy, but Roy
wouldn’t have anything to do with the gospel or those hypocrites down at the church. But he
kept coming to church. Listening and watching, but mostly watching the people.
Within a couple of years, God final got through to him, and changed Roy’s life. "The people
loved him to Christ." Pastor Scott said, "today he is a sweet loving man." Roy’s transformation
took sixty years, but it began when he sat down next to God and began to listen to what the
Heavenly Father wanted to tell him.
god wants to talk to you today. Have you been listening to the Father? Well I pray that you will
open up and listen to him speak and in that moment, hear of his love for you.
Amen.
I Samuel 3:1-8 January 19, 2003
What Are You Listening To? What is it that causes you to stop and take notice? We all have that
trigger in our brain that kicks in when certain voices are heard, when certain things are said.
Just mention baseball and my antennae sticks up. Mention the name of one of my kids and I
suddenly stop and pull my head out of the sand. You know People have a tendency to hear only
to what they want to hear. We have so many filters and defense mechanisms up here that we
often don’t hear what is being said all around us.
To illustrate the point, a fellow named Keith Downing shared a story about his Uncle. Apparently
his uncle noticed that every time he ate his favorite food, pork rinds, his foot pained him
immensely that evening. The family physician confirmed his suspicion of pork-induced gout, and
when the uncle returned home from the doctor’s office, his wife asked him how the appointment
had gone. His uncle plopped off his shoes and replied, "The doctor says there is not much he
can do. I’m going to have to put up with gout about 3 times a week."
Do you know someone like that? When you look at the Bible, it points out that this seems to be
part of the human condition. It says "The heart is deceitful above all things," meaning we hear,
we believe what we want to hear and believe, even if it isn’t the truth. God says it right out in the
book of Ezekiel. He says "these people have ears to hear but they never hear... eyes to see, but
they never see" (12:2).
So throughout the scriptures, we see God continually crying out and trying to get our attention.
• Hear, O Israel, the statutes and judgments which I speak in your ears this day, that you may
learn them, and keep, and do them
• Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one.
• Hear, O Israel the word which the LORD speaks unto you
• Give ear, O ye heavens, and I will speak… and hear, O earth, the words of my mouth
Why does God want us to listen? Because he has advice for us and because he wants to share
his blessing with us. We read
• Hear, O Israel, and be careful to obey/ so that it may go well with you
• Incline your ear, and come unto me: hear, and your soul shall live; and I will make an
everlasting covenant with you, [even] the sure mercies of David
A perfect example of this whole thing comes to us in the book of Samuel. Samuel was a little
boy who was serving in the temple in Jerusalem. He was “an alter boy” if you will, not more
then ten years old. His job was to study and help the priest. And he basically stayed right there in
temple to do his service. And it is here where God first calls his name.
We read in I Samuel 3:3-4 that Samuel was lying down in the Temple of the Lord, where the Ark
was when he heard a voice.
Now, I believe that every word of Scripture is there for a reason. For example, in this passage,
God could simply have said: “Samuel was sleeping” BUT God goes into detail. It’s as if God is
saying: "I want you to know exactly WHERE Samuel was sleeping."
You see, God wanted us to see that when Samuel heard God’s voice he was sleeping right
NEXT to God. In Other Words: Proximity is important: If you’re gonna hear – you’ve gotta be
near.
James tells us "Draw near to God and he will draw near to you."
Have you ever been talking to someone and they begin moving around . It happens in our house
a lot. Someone will be talking and to the other person, while they are picking up or looking for
something, or getting ready to go. And the discussion takes place moving from room to room to
room. And we all know, you can’t hold a discussion unless you are in the same room.
And that is true with God too. If you’re going to hear God’s voice; if you’re going to know His
will - you’ve got to be in the same room as He is. That’s why Church attendance is so important.
That’s why Bible Study should be in our weekly plans.
I can’t tell you how many people I’ve met, who have come to me in the middle of some crisis
saying, “I just can’t hear God speaking. I want to know him. I want to get close to him. But I
don’t hear anything. I can’t feel him.” And many of these people haven’t been to church in
months or even years.
Now I loved the old movie with John Denver and George Burns called “Oh God.” In that movie
God came to Denver’s character and began speaking to him out of the blue. And I believe that
happens. But Samuel’s story reminds us that if we want to hear God’s voice, the best place to
hear it is in a place where we suspect God is. Jesus said: "Wherever two or more are gathered in
my name - there I am in the midst of you." And that is church or a Bible Study or a prayer
group.
But you can even take it a step further. If you want to hear God’s voice, then you need to spend
some time in prayer. You need to invite him into your world and ask him to come to you.
Because the Bible says if you seek, you will find, if you call, he will answer. You’re not going to
find him out there unless you put yourself in a position to get close to him, So, the first thing we
need to work on is "being in the same room" with God.
Secondly, we need to work on our priorities. There will be times when listening to God will be
inconvenient. Look at verses 8 & 9 again. Samuel was sleeping when God called. He woke him
up in the middle of the night. I don’t know about you, but when I am tired, when my sleep is
interrupted, I get grouchy. That is not the time to be playing games. And yet, sometimes that is
the only time God can get our attention.
Wouldn’t it be nice if God only spoke to us on Sunday mornings between 9 a.m. and noon.
Wouldn’t it be nice if all God wanted us to do was worship him for two hours a week. But that
is not the case. God is speaking to us all the time and he may just call upon us when we have ten
other things to do. He may call out your name when you are right in the middle of something
you deem important. What’s worse is that if we hear God’s voice at this inopportune moment,
he may be asking us to do something that doesn’t fit into our agenda.
And we are creatures of habit. We like to lay out our schedule so we know what is happening
next. We like to be in control. And when God calls, he often will ask us to put aside our own
plans to do something for him.
When was the last time that happened to you. When was the last time God spoke to you, asking
you to consider doing something you hadn’t planned on. And did you listen to him or tune him
out?
I know that sometimes I tune things out that I don’t want to hear. If I’m asked to do something
I don’t want to do, it tends to slip my mind. I don’t do it on purpose, but that task somehow,
subconsciously slips out of sight. It moves right down on my priority list and may just sit there
on the edge of my consciousness. And I’ve probably done that to God more times than I can
remember and so have you.
I’ll never forget a call I got from my step mother when Lori and I were living in Rhode Island.
Her father was very sick and had gone in for open heart surgery and she was very depressed.
As she talked she told me how surprised she was that our minister hadn’t come by to visit. She
told me that he always seemed to show up just when she needed him the most, as if he had a
“sixth sense.”
Foolish me: I asked her if she had called him. How else could he expect to know what she was
going through?
But I have to tell you, as a pastor and as a Christian, I think God does speak to us at times and
urges us to make a phone call or stop and visit someone who is going through a difficult time. I
have had enough of these experiences where I suddenly had the sense that I should call someone
or go and see someone, only to find out that I was going at just the right moment. And I’ve had
enough of the opposite experiences, where I felt that urge and decided not to go, only to find out
later that it would have been a blessing if I had gone.
But some times it is too inconvenient. Sometimes it doesn’t fit our schedule. Sometimes, we
just aren’t open to listening for God.
But the truth is, that if we are going to hear God’s voice, we need to be open to him whenever he
calls. We need to be willing to answer and go wherever he sends and learn to be inconvenienced
every now and then.
Finally, in order to hear God, we have to give God permission to speak to us. In I Samuel 3:9 &
10 we’re told Eli’s advise to Samuel. His advise was simply to give God permission to speak.
He said, respond by saying “Speak Lord, Here I am.”
You know God isn’t pushy. He doesn’t bully us into listening. We have to want to listen to him
and let him in. He’ll stand knocking at the door like he is depicted in the stained glass window up
above us. But he won’t enter in unless we extend the invitation. Samuel could have simply said,
“Go away!” and God would have been still. But he invited God to speak and it changed his life.
Samuel went on to be the first of God’s Judges and had the distinction of anointing God’s first
kings in Israel. He went on to serve god for many years and was blessed by it.
The same is true for us. If we give God permission to speak to us, he will bring blessing to us.
Even if it seems inconvenient or proves to be something we don’t feel comfortable doing, God
will turn it around so that we will know his joy.
Pastor Scott Harrell tells the story of a man named Roy. Roy had regularly attended church as a
child, but was raised in a bizarre, legalistic church family that warped his life. At church, his dad
was a pillar, active in the church and even served as a deacon, but at home, dad was an abusive
monster.
As soon as he could, Roy bolted from the church and wanted nothing to do with it. He was a
crude, rude man who looked out for number one. He didn’t pretend to be one thing at church,
while he was something else at home, he didn’t pretend at all. Roy was a scoundrel and a cheat,
and he didn’t care who knew it.
When he turned 60, Roy started coming to church again. something was missing in his life and
he began searching for it. He wasn’t sure if the church or even God had anything to say to him
but he figured maybe he missed something. His life had been pretty miserable and going it on his
own hadn’t gotten him anything.
So he started showing up. He’d walk in late, sit on the back row and listen for a while, but would
always leave before the service ended. Pastor Scott would try to witness to Roy, but Roy
wouldn’t have anything to do with the gospel or those hypocrites down at the church. But he
kept coming to church. Listening and watching, but mostly watching the people.
Within a couple of years, God final got through to him, and changed Roy’s life. "The people
loved him to Christ." Pastor Scott said, "today he is a sweet loving man." Roy’s transformation
took sixty years, but it began when he sat down next to God and began to listen to what the
Heavenly Father wanted to tell him.
god wants to talk to you today. Have you been listening to the Father? Well I pray that you will
open up and listen to him speak and in that moment, hear of his love for you.
Amen.
| Welcome to the First Baptist Church of Norwich 239 West Main Street Norwich, Connecticut Phone: 860-889-0369 |
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