Sunday May 16,2021
Welcome, I encourage to read our scriptures this week in, Psalms 1, John 17:6-19. Our message this week comes from 1John 5:9-15.
“ASAP” “IM” with the I AM.
I John 5:9-15
(9) We accept man’s testimony, but God’s testimony is greater because it is the testimony of God, which he has given about his Son. (10) Anyone who believes in the Son of God has this testimony in his heart. Anyone who does not believe God has made him out to be a liar, because he has not believed the testimony God has given about his Son. (11) And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. (12) He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life.
(13) I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life. (14) This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. (15) And if we know that he hears us–whatever we ask–we know that we have what we asked of him.
This is the word of God, for the people of God. Thanks be to God.
How many of you have a cell phone, iPad or even a computer at home and use it to text message? The other day I was texting a friend and received the response, TTYL. I didn’t know what it meant. So, I started to surf the net for its meaning. How many of you ever surfed the net? If you do, you know there is an entirely new language to learn when you get involved with computers. I thought I would give us a little quiz just to see how well we are “with it” when it comes to talking computer lingo. I’ll show you the word then you tell me the definition.
ASAP – As soon as possible
FYI – For Your Information
LOL – Laughing Out Loud
KIT – Keep In Touch
TTYL – Talk To You Later
ILU- I Love You
BCNU – Be Seeing You
G2G – Got To Go
POS – Parents Over Shoulder
IM – Instant Message
There is no doubt that the internet has changed the way we communicate. For many of us email has virtually replaced traditional letters and even telephone calls as the primary way we correspond with one another. Everyday billions of email messages are sent out around the world. Email has become the most rapidly adopted form of communication in the history of mankind.
But now, in our fast pace world even the rapid response of email is not fast enough for many. It does have its disadvantages. You have no way of knowing if the person you are sending email to is online at that particular moment or not. If you are sending multiple emails back and forth, you normally have to click through a few steps to read, reply and then send the email.
That is why ”IM”(instant messaging) has gained such popularity. Instant messaging allows you to text or speak immediately on line with anyone that you choose as long as that person is on line. You can even keep a list of people that you want to talk to instantaneously called a “buddy list”. As you send a message back and forth, you and your friend are typing in messages that both of you can see in real time.
Today, I want to share with you an old message in a new format. God wants to be number one on your buddy list. So, ”ASAP”(as soon as possible), Believe it or not, you can “IM” with the I AM.
So, ”FYI” (for your information), I want to let you know, you really can instantaneously connect with God and know that you are connected with God if certain things are true and you have the right connection. Wouldn’t you like to know that when you pray, God is listening? You can ”KIT”(keep in touch) with God. You can know for sure that your prayers do get higher than the ceiling? That they really do make it all the way to heaven? You can IM with the I AM if you are willing to meet these three conditions.
These conditions are found in two power packed verses in I John 5:14 and 15. Let’s read them again. (14)“This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. (15) And if we know that he hears us–whatever we ask–we know that we have what we asked of him.”
“FYI”, First, You Must Be Confident In God’s Power.
1 John 5:14 states: “Now this is the confidence that we have in approaching God.” Now the word confidence is a word that literally means, trust and self-assurance. In order to connect with God, you must first of all come to God confidently. You must be confident that God has the power to hear and to answer your prayer.
I’ve heard people say to me so many times, “I’m not a very good at praying or I just don’t know how to pray or I don’t pray very well.” What they are saying is – that they don’t pray eloquently or perhaps they don’t pray fervently. They don’t pray with enough emotion or they don’t say things just the right way. What they don’t understand is that the most important part of your prayer is not how eloquently you pray or how fervently you pray, but how confidently you pray from the heart.
Jesus taught his disciples in Matthew 18:3&4,”I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.”
Example: A mother was startled to find her five-year-old going through a new Bible storybook and circling the word God wherever it appeared on the page. Stifling her first reaction to reprimand the child for defacing a book, she quietly asked, “Why are you doing that?” The child’s matter-of-fact answer was: “So that I will know where to find God when I want him.”
Wouldn’t it be nice to have the confidence, that all we had to do was open a storybook and find God waiting for us? The truth is, we do have such a Book—the Bible.
The writer of Hebrews puts it this way.(Hebrews 4:16, NIV)”Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.” Hebrews 4:16 as the message translation puts it, “So let’s walk right up to God and get what he is so ready to give.” (Hebrews 4:16, MSG)
Not just anyone should have confidence they can connect with God. 1 John 5:14 is very specific when it says, “This is the confidence “we” have in approaching God.” Now who is the “we”? John’s entire letter was written to Christians and for Christians because Christian’s are the only true children of God.
I John 3:1 says, “How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that “we” should be called children of God! And that is what “we” are!” The reason why we can be confident when we pray is because we are children of God.
Do you remember the disciples asked Jesus to teach them to pray? The first thing he taught them was to pray “Our Father in heaven”. Jesus was teaching the disciples that they should have the same confidence in God as a child does in his father. Confident he’s looking out for our best interest. He taught them they could IM with the I AM because, “POS” (Parent over shoulder) watching over us.
There are three people in my life named Judy, Bo and Joe and the one thing they can have complete confidence in is, if they have a need I can meet, I will meet that need. Because they are my children.
So, when you pray, you must have the same confidence that a child has in his father that he will hear and answer your prayer. That is how I know I can IM with the I AM, because, ”POS” the moment I say, “Heavenly Father” God drops everything He is doing, looks at me and says, “speak you have my undivided attention.” That is where having confidence in God’s power really begins.
Second, “FYI”. We Must Be Committed To God’s Purpose.
Now John goes on to explain the type of confidence we have, “..that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.”(1 John 5:14) In other words, we can be confident that he will listen to us whenever we ask him for anything in line with his will.
I am convinced that most people don’t understand the purpose of prayer. The purpose of prayer is not to get our will done in heaven. It is to get God’s will done on earth. If we’re not committed to God’s purpose, we lose our confidence! You can’t know His will until you are committed to His purpose. His will!
“ASAP”, Understand this! God will never answer any prayer outside of His will, but He will answer every prayer inside of His will. That tells us, in order to pray in the will of God, we have got to seek the will of God, so we can know the will of God, that we might be able to do the will of God. You can’t know His will until you are committed to His purpose. His will!
Learn a lesson from the story of an old farmer who for many days had been plowing with an ox and a mule together and working them pretty hard. The ox said to the mule, “Let’s play sick today and rest a little while.” But the old mule said, “No, we need to get the work done, for the season is short.”
But the ox played sick, and the farmer brought him fresh hay and corn and made him comfortable. When the mule came in from plowing, the ox asked how he made out. “We didn’t get as much done, but we made it all right,” answered the mule. Then the ox asked, “What did the old man say about me?” “Nothing,” said the mule.
The next day the ox, thinking he had a good thing going, played sick again. When the mule came in again very tired, the ox asked, “How did it go?” The mule said, “All right, I guess, but we didn’t get much done.” Then the ox also asked, “What did the old man say about me?” “Nothing to me,” was the reply, “but he did stop and have a long talk with the butcher.”
Think about this. Why would God waste His time revealing His will to you in a certain situation when He knows beforehand you are going to play hooky?
If you want to know God’s will in one area of you life, you need to make sure you are committed to His purpose, His will, in every other area of your life. We can’t IM with the I AM if we text “TTYL” .(talk to you later)
Third ”FYI”. We Must Be Convinced Of God’s Promise
As we read verse 15 again, notice the word, “know” is used twice. “And if we “know” that he hears us–whatever we ask–we “know” that we have what we asked of him.” Now thinking something is true is an opinion, but knowing something true is to be certain. To be convinced. The Messenger puts it this way.
“We “know” that what we’ve asked for is as good as ours.” (I John 5:15, MSG)
We’re to often like, a slightly inebriated man on his hands and knees underneath a street lamp searching the sidewalk. When a friend came by and said, “Sam, what in the world are you doing out here on your hands and knees?” “I’m hunting my house key ,” Sam replied. “I lost my house key.” The friend got down on his hands and knees, too. “Show me where you lost it and I’ll help you,” he said. “Oh, I lost it way over there in the grass,” Sam said. “Then why in the world are you looking for it out here on the sidewalk?” the friend asked. Sam replied, “Because the light’s better over here.”
We “LOL”(laugh out loud) at this story, but I have a feeling that a lot of people come to church because somewhere they have lost something. They’re not sure what they’ve lost or where they lost it, but they are convinced that the light is better here.
“FYI”. We can be certain when it comes to prayer of two things.
First of all, God will respond to our prayers. Verse 15 says, “And If we know that He “hears” us –whatever we ask– …” That word “hear” means not only just to listen to something, but to be confident and committed to act on what has been heard. To be convinced that God does respond to prayers. There really is no such thing as unanswered prayer, it’s just that God answers prayer in different ways.
And second, sometimes, God’s answer to your prayers has already been given. Listen to these amazing verses, “Before they call I will answer; while they are still speaking I will hear.”(Isaiah 65:24). Isaiah 30:18 says, “Yet the Lord longs to be gracious to you; he rises to show you compassion. For the Lord is a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait for him!” (Isaiah 30:18, MSG)
“God takes the time to do everything right – everything.” Sometimes, God answers prayers before we ask and sometimes immediately. Sometimes God’s answer is delayed till the right time, according to His will.
You see there are times that God may want for you, what you want, He just doesn’t want it at the same time you want it. How true it is that what we often think what we want is not necessarily the same as what God knows that we need.
Yes, there are times that God simply says, “no”. But keep this in mind, even a “no” is an answer to prayer. Even when God says no, it is not that God is being mean. There are two ways that a father can be good to his children – by what he does allow them to have and what he doesn’t allow them to have. Be thankful that God does not give you everything you want.
When you meet God’s conditions to prayer, you are guaranteed an answer to prayer. Let’s face it! We don’t meet those conditions most often which is why we have such weak prayer lives.
You can connect with God. You can IM with the I AM, but remember this- to connect with God you’ve got to have a connection and you’ve got to have the right connection. As Paul teaches us in 1 Thessalonians 5: 16-18.”Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” The connection is Jesus Christ. Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6)
The cross of Jesus Christ says, “I LU” and – which is you know – I Love You and it is because of the cross of Christ that we can IM with the I AM. So I’ll leave you with this.
“ASAP IM with the I AM.”
BCNU. TTYL.
In His Service, Pastor Joe
ANNOUNCEMENTS
Pastor Joe will be available at the church on Thursday afternoon from 2 to 4. If you need to speak to him, contact Pastor Joe at
570-267-4570 (cell) or Email: joe.s.travis@gmail.com
Loose change offering, (coins & bills), goes to Rev. Malaho, Kenya.
Sunday School starts at 8:30am with a study of the book of Galatians. A good time to join us.
PW is gathering recipes for a church/community cookbook. If you have a favorite recipe you would like to share, it can be emailed to Bonne, or give it to her handwritten.
Men’s Breakfast 8:00 A.M. Wednesday May 19, 2021
Session meets 9:00 A.M. Tuesday May 25, 2021
Newsletter Deadline – Tuesday June 1, 2021
EMAIL address for the church has been changed to: fhpc400@att.net
If you are in the parking lot, PLEASE TUNE YOUR RADIO TO 89.5 FM TO HEAR THE CHURCH SERVICE.
Day of Pentecost – May 23, 2021
Trinity Sunday – May 30, 2021
