What does it look like to get connected to God?
That is one of the questions addressed by Pastor Troy Murphy on Sunday, March 3, in the first installment of the sermon series “Can You Hear Me Now?”
Does God hear you? Do you hear God? Do you hear others, and are they hearing you? These are some of the topics this series will unpack.
Here are key points from Sunday’s message:
*God desires to be connected with you, based on love and not fear. Jesus restored our relationship with God after it was broken by sin.
*Even though Jesus died for us, we still struggle. Fear sets in and we start asking questions like: Am I doing this right? Will I be found out? Am I doing enough? Does God really hear me? We begin to create a cause-and-effect methodology on how to connect to God that focuses on our behavior including bible reading, prayer, giving, serving, etc.
*People start to feel the weight and guilt of not doing enough things to please God. They feel disconnected from God because of that and look for more things to do. But that was not God’s intention on how we get connected to Him.
*God does not want us to connect with him out of obligation. He longs for a genuine connection in which we sincerely desire a relationship beyond doing things for Him.
*We tend to put conditions on why God should love us, which leads to a relationship based more on obligation than on genuine desire that comes from the heart.
*When you can rest in the full gift of connection that God has given you, it will change you. This is what God desires, but we keep throwing fear and shame into the relationship, which distorts what it means to be connected to God.
*Scripture tells us that God hears us (1 John 5.14-15). But God hearing you is not determined by a preferred answer. God knows the things we need to go through in order to gain a clearer perspective of Him and His will.
*At times God will grieve the journey we go through. But when we don’t get the answers to prayer we want, the Father is still with us (Romans 8: 38-39). Many famous Biblical characters — Job, Stephen, Moses, Joshua, Peter, Mary — went through difficult circumstances. But God used those tough situations for His glory.
*God hears us with unconditional love that needs no secret formula. It’s just Jesus. The reason you have a connection to God is through Jesus alone. It’s not based on how much you read the Bible, pray, give, serve, etc. A lot of people will do those things but don’t know God.
*God’s love, through Jesus, never goes away. No matter how much you condemn yourself, or how bad you are, or how guilty you feel, God doesn’t love you less. He radically loves you no matter what.
*If being connected to God isn’t a formula based on our behavior, what does it look like? We need to look at being connected to God not as a destination. There is no destination. Being connected to God is already here. It’s in you by the power of the Holy Spirit.
*We can do nothing to be righteous before God. The blood of Christ is what makes us righteous (1 John 2: 1-2). Our behavior doesn’t determine whether we are in right standing with God. God hears us as sons and daughters who sin but are on a journey home, like the Prodigal son.
*We see numerous references to “the righteous” in scripture (Psalm 34.15; Proverbs 15.29; James 5.16
Psalms 34.15; 1 Peter 3:12). But righteousness is not determined by our behavior — it’s only through Jesus that we are righteous. What makes us right in God’s eyes? It’s Jesus alone.
*Want to get connected to God? Be like a child. Embrace the love God gives you through Christ.
*Instead of regretting where we are spiritually, we should embrace the fact that God is already close and connected and in you. The work is already done.
