Tanner Lawso n
When you pray, read Scripture, or gather for worship—do you expect to encounter the living God?
1. God Desires To Be Encountered.
Jeremiah 29:12-14
12 Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. 13 You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart. 14 I will be found by you, declares the Lord, and I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations and all the places where I have driven you, declares the Lord, and I will bring you back to the place from which I sent you into exile.
Jeremiah 29:13
13 You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart.
1. God Desires To Be Encountered.
A. God Is Not Hiding From You.
Christianity is a relationship, not a religion of rituals.
1. God Desires To Be Encountered.
A. God Is Not Hiding From You.
B. Seeking God Is Active, Not Passive.
Hebrews 11:6
And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.
Half-hearted
pursuit
rarely results in deep encounter.
1. God Desires To Be Encountered.
A. God Is Not Hiding From You.
B. Seeking God Is Active, Not Passive.
C. The Reward of Seeking Is Finding.
1. God Desires To Be Encountered.
2. God Responds To Our Movement
Toward Him.
James 4:8
Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you.
2. God Responds To Our Movement Toward Him.
A. The Initiative Is Ours.
2. God Responds To Our Movement Toward Him.
A. The Initiative Is Ours.
B. God Is Eager To Meet Us.
2. God Responds To Our Movement Toward Him.
A. The Initiative Is Ours.
B. God Is Eager To Meet Us.
C. Proximity Brings Transformation.
Encounter leads to change, not just comfort.
1. God Desires To Be Encountered.
2. God Responds To Our Movement
Toward Him.
3. Expectation Positions Us For Encounter.
3. Expectation Positions Us For Encounter.
A. Expectation Is The Posture of Faith.
Psalm 5:3
In
the
morning,
I prepare a sacrifice for You and watch.
3. Expectation Positions Us For Encounter.
A. Expectation Is The Posture of Faith.
B. Hunger Attracts His Presence.
God often responds to the desperate and the hungry before He responds to the religious.
3. Expectation Positions Us For Encounter.
A. Expectation Is The Posture of Faith.
B. Hunger Attracts His Presence.
C. Expectation Shapes How We Show Up.
1. God Desires To Be Encountered.
God Responds To Our Movement Toward Him.
4. Encounter With God Changes Everything.
A. Conviction and cleansing.
4. Encounter With God Changes Everything.
A. Conviction and cleansing.
B. Comfort and clarity.
4. Encounter With God Changes Everything.
A. Conviction and cleansing.
B. Comfort and clarity.
C. Calling and commissioning.
Are you expecting to encounter the Lord?
