Ministering in Christ Part 5 "Waiting on God"

The Great Commission
MINISTERING IN CHRIST
Part 5: Waiting on God
Pastor Bruce A. Shields
House of Faith – www.PS127.org | www.TruthDigest.org


ANNOUNCEMENTS

6:00PM Evening Service at the church –
“Seminary Students will be preaching”

February 1st – Lori Ulman
February 8th – Lynnette Higgins
February 15th – Grace Steadman
February 22nd – Walker Spriggs
March 1st – Deacon Kurt Ulman



WHERE WE ARE AT
† Spending Time with the Lord

† Growing in the Lord

† Maturing in Christ



New Series: Ministering in Christ

Previously:
Committing your life to Christ
The Way to True Service
Light of the World ~ How to be an effective Witness
The Leading of the Lord


TODAY’S SERMON: The Great Commission
MINISTERING IN CHRIST
Part 5: Waiting on God
Scripture Reading

Psalm 106:13
They soon forgot His works; they waited not for His council.

† We have trouble waiting on the Lord, sometimes because we forget His works, and how He has proven Himself over and over.

Israel forgot again and again all that the Lord had done for them.

Because they forgot, they wondered in the desert.

Because they forgot, when Moses left to be with God on the mountain, they went right back to idol worship.

Because they forgot all the greatness of the Lord, they did not trust in Him, and made poor choices that cost many of them their very lives, all because they did not wait on the Lord.


† Sometimes we get ourselves in trouble because we did not wait on God.

Abram and Sarai was to wait on the Lord, but did not. They hatched a plan to “assist” God in accomplishing what He said He would do, and the world is still paying the price for it today with the Arab nation.

I know many followers of Christ who did not wait on the Lord, and have had to pay the price for their impatience.

One day while praying in the woods, I asked God about my business, and financial situation because it was not doing well, and it was costing me more to stay open then I was making.

God spoke and said that He would provide for my needs through my business…but, before He could finish, I took it and ran.

I did not wait on God to provide…I “helped” Him.
Two months later and a few thousand more dollars in debt, I came to realize through prayer and hearing from God once again while praying “Lord, why is my business still failing after I put all that money and time into it??”

And God said to me, “I never said it was your computer business I would provide through.”

The business He was referring to was the cleaning business with Terri.

Once I realized that, and closed the computer store and started working with Terri, that cleaning business grew from a few hundred dollars per month, to about $5,000 per month.

When God speaks and gives us a word, we have to be careful of a few things.

a) Don’t assume you know the plans of God simply because He gave you an insight.

b) Trust in the Lord…if God says it, He means it.

c) WAIT ON THE LORD.


I. WAIT ON THE LORD

† Psalm 27:13-14
13 I am still confident of this:
I will see the goodness of the LORD
in the land of the living.

14 Wait on the Lord;
be of good courage, and He shall strengthen thine heart:
wait, I say, on the Lord.




† Isaiah 40:27-31
27 Why do you say, O Jacob,
and complain, O Israel,
"My way is hidden from the LORD;
my cause is disregarded by my God"?
28 Do you not know?
Have you not heard?
The LORD is the everlasting God,
the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He will not grow tired or weary,
and his understanding no one can fathom.
29 He gives strength to the weary
and increases the power of the weak.
30 Even youths grow tired and weary,
and young men stumble and fall;
31 but those who hope in the LORD
will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not be faint.


† Hosea 12:6
But you must return to your God;
maintain love and justice,
and wait for your God always.



II. PATIENCE

We are not just to “wait on the Lord…”, we are instructed to wait “patiently” on God.




† Psalm 37:7-11
7 Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him;
do not fret when men succeed in their ways,
when they carry out their wicked schemes.
8 Refrain from anger and turn from wrath;
do not fret—it leads only to evil.
9 For evil men will be cut off,
but those who hope in the LORD will inherit the land.
10 A little while, and the wicked will be no more;
though you look for them, they will not be found.
11 But the meek will inherit the land
and enjoy great peace.


CLOSING

Psalm 130:5-6
5 I wait for the LORD, my soul waits,
and in his word I put my hope.
6 My soul waits for the Lord
more than watchmen wait for the morning,
more than watchmen wait for the morning.