Keeping it Between the Lines - Pastor Kenneth Woolf

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New Life COTR Sunday July 29, 2007
WHAT’S GOD’S WILL?
“Keeping it Between the Lines”

INTRODUCTION: One of the most asked questions among Christians is “What’s God’s Will for my Life?”
Life is a series of crossroads, decision points. How do you make all these decisions and them be the right decision.
Is God’s will so specific that if you mess it up it sends a chain reaction throughout time?
Is there just one person God intends for me to marry? If so and somebody messes that up by marrying the wrong person then what?
How can I be sure I’m hearing God’s voice and doing His will for my life? In the next few weeks I’m going to be sharing with you some valuable information that will help you discover God’s will for your life.
I can’t tell you specifically what God’s will but I can give you some very important guidelines that will help you know God’s will. GOD DOESN’T WANT IT TO BE A SECRET!
Through these series of message I can put you in the zone to discover God’s will.

HOW DO WE FIND GOD’S WILL?
THREE CATAGORIES TO GOD’S WILL
(Golf illustration)
1. The sovereign will of God. (What God is doing on the earth.)
God wants you to know what He’s doing in the earth. “On this rock I will build my church.” Jesus is coming back one day!
2. The moral will of God. (What God has already said in His Word.)
Is it God’s will for me to have pre-marital sex?
God is not motivated to give you more information if your not already following what He’s written in the Bible.
3. The personal will of God. (What God desires for my life.)

Psalm 139:16(NIV)- “…all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of tem came to be.”
What if we get off of God’s plan, what does God do next? God has the unique ability to take whatever we add to the book and make the last chapter still fit.
Romans 8:28- “And we know that in all things God works for the god of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”
TRANSITION: Get to know God’s sovereign and moral will. In golf it’s called the hazards when you get out of the fairway.
Do you have decisions you don’t what to do? It could be because you’ve gotten out of the lines (fairway) and are now in the hazards.
You can find out if you’re outside the lines by asking two questions.

OUTSIDE THE LINES
1. What am I doing that I should not be doing?
Outside of God’s moral will you have a hard time hearing God. Is there sin in your life?
Romans 6:1,2- “Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?”
God is calling us to holiness. Get rid of the junk and get back inside the boundaries of God’s moral law.
What am I doing that I should not be doing?
2. What am I not doing that I should be doing?
Its sin to not to do the things I should be doing.
James 4:17- “Anyone, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn’t do it, sins.”
God wants us to move toward Him.
To many of us have been living outside the boundaries of God’s sovereign and moral will.
You will never find God’s personal will until you get within the boundaries or the zone!

KEEP IT BETWEEN THE LINES
Proverbs 24:25-27- “Let your eyes look straight ahead; fix your gaze directly before you. Make level paths for your feet and take only ways that are firm. Do not swerve to the right or the left; keep your foot from evil.”
TRANSITION: Long before you ask God His personal will, do these four things.
1. Give your life to God.
(a) If you’re not sure you’re a Christian your life will never make sense until you connect with God who wrote the book on your life.
God calls people that are away from Him –LOST!
Matthew 18:14- “In the same way your Father in heaven is not willing that any of these little ones should be lost.”
(b) Some of you are Christians but you still dabble in the world. Part-time Christians.
1Peter 4:2- “As a result, he does not live the rest of his earthly life for evil human desires, but rather for the will of God.”
2. Allow God to transform you.
Allow God to change you. This is called sanctification. God wants to bring you through this process of setting you a part from the world. We need to be transformed.
Romans 12:2- “Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is-his good, pleasing and perfect will.”
You can be a Christian and never connect with God’s will because you allow the junk of the world to remain in you. We become clouded and never hear God’s voice.
How can I get the junk out? One of the best ways is small groups. Become accountable and correctable.
1Thessalonians 4:3,4- “It is God’s will that you should be sanctified: that you should avoid sexual immorality; that each of you should learn to control his own body in a way that is holy and honorable.”
Give God your life and say “I’m living for this.” Some of us are just messing around!
3. Develop your gifts and calling.
God’s will for you is going to be connected to what God’s already up to.
Ephesians 2:10- “For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”
God has something for you to do. Find out what God has called you to do. Your life will never make sense until you connect with your purpose.
CONCLUSION: (1) Give your life to God (2)Get out of sin (3)Do something with your life, discover your gifts and calling
Then you can discover the ultimate will of God for your life.
4. Give your life for others.
Look at me and hear this: You’ll never be closer to the will of God until you’re making a difference in the life of another person.
1Peter 4:10- “Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms.”
You will never be closer to the will of God until you’ve figured out a way to use your life to make a difference in the life of another person.
GOD HAS A WONDERFUL PLAN FOR YOUR LIFE!
1Timothy 6:18,19- “Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life.”

STAY BETWEEN THE LINES
1. Give your life to God.
2. Allow God to transform you
3. Develop your gifts and callings
4. Give your life for others.
LOVE PEOPLE