E - Sermon

Treasures from Heaven

Surv ival or Rev ival?

The world we live in is filled with so much noise. It is the blare of the TV, the unending sound of traffic, the endless ringing of mobile phones and people talking. The sound of office machines, the fax, more telephones, more talking. Yet in the midst of all this noise, God is speaking but our difficulty is listening. John Henry Newman (1800s) said this in one of his sermons: He is still here; He still whispers to us, He still makes signs to us. But His voice is too low, and the worlds din is so loud, and His signs are so covert, and the world is so restless, that it is difficult to determine when He addresses us, and what He says. Today far more than in Newmans time that voice is being drowned out by the increasing noise that leaves us no time for silence with the believer trying to survive in this world that takes so much of our time and attention. Today we have survival kits for everything; survival foods, first-aid survival kit, survival instructions for those not raptured (yes they do?) etc We have become a nation of survivors. We survive from one week to another. We try our best to survive on our income. We have resorted to stretching our meals by freezing what is left for another day. Many relationships are just about surviving! People are going from one crisis to another. The Church also struggles to survive with fewer people in attendance. The Church is misunderstood, irrelevent, filled with a group of survivors just waiting for the rapture. We struggle to keep or maintain our buildings and have to look at ways to increase our earning potential because the tithes and offerings are not sufficient to keep us afloat. We start educare centres, we hire out our buildings, and even the pastors become itinerant ministers, all because we are struggling to survive. Like Tom Hanks in the movie cast away, we must become tired of living like a survivor and launch out into the deep, trust God again, knowing that He is with you. You need to live like someone who is in revival. The Bible says that we must break up your fallow ground (Hosea 10:12). Fallow ground is ground that was tilled but now lies waste. Before you can sow seed into the soil it needs to be turned again and the weeds removed. So it is with you. There are areas in our lives that are like waste places that need the seed of the Holy Spirit to come so that we can live again in His power and not live like survivors. When you live like a survivor, you will find that position is important, the backbiting starts, with you dragging yourself out of bed everyday. But when you are in revival, you live for the moment, always ready to be Gods vessel, always happy and positive. The psalmist says will you not revive us again that your people may rejoice in you. Isaiah 44:3 - For I will pour water on him who is thirsty, and floods on the dry ground... Come on now! Get desperate to live in revival rather than in survival mode. There is more for you You are Blessed Pastor Tony Sands

(Note: this is abbreviated notes on a recent message).