Hide and Seek

Transcript

Rob McFarlane: 0:59

My sermon today is entitled Hide and Seek. Did you ever play hide and seek as a child? I'm sure you did. I think most people have played it at one time or another. I remember playing hide and seek with our children when they were small. Our daughter once wanted to play hide and seek in the car during a road trip. I remember about two years old she closed her eyes tightly, put her hands over her eyes, and then said, Daddy, here am I. Come and find me. Hide and seek is a game that's been played throughout history. It appears in literature. For example, Shakespeare referred to hide and seek in some of his writing. They've even found references and documents to hide and seek that go back as far as 200 BC. And if you think about it, hide and seek even took place in the Garden of Eden. When Adam and Eve sinned, they hid themselves from God. Let's have a look at what happened in Genesis chapter 3, verse 8 and 9. It says, And they, Adam and Eve, heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day. And the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. But the Lord God called to the man and said to him, Where are you? Now we have to ask ourselves the question in Genesis chapter 3 who was hiding and who was seeking? We often think that God is hiding from us, but do we ever consider that we are hiding and often God is doing the seeking? Now, I do agree with you, the Bible encourages us to seek God, and He even promises that when we seek Him with all our hearts, we'll find Him. Listen to this wonderful promise from Jeremiah 29, verse 13 and 14. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. Now today I want to focus on how God is doing the seeking. The Bible tells us that God is seeking people whom He can bless. He's not out to get us, but rather looking for people whose hearts are loyal to Him, so that He can show Himself strong on their behalf. Listen to 2 Chronicles chapter 16 and verse 9, which tells us, for the eyes of the Lord run to and fro across the whole earth to give strong support to those whose heart is blameless toward him. How about we say, Father God, here I am, come and find me. We want to be those whom God gives strong support to. We read in Luke chapter 19, verse 10, for the Son of Man Jesus came to seek and save the lost. That's what Jesus said when he found Zacchaeus in a tree and he invited himself to Zacchaeus's house for tea. What I love about this story is that Jesus looked up in the tree and called Zacchaeus down by name. How awesome is that! Jesus knew his name and he knows our name, he knows your name, and he wants to have a relationship with you. You may think calling someone lost is not politically correct, but basically it means someone who is disconnected from a relationship that God intended for them to have. And there are many people in our world today who are disconnected from God. You may feel disconnected from God, but just like the Father in the story of the prodigal son, our Heavenly Father is looking and waiting for you to come back into relationship with Him. He wants to restore you into relationship with Him as He originally intended, as His son and Daughter. He wants to say to us, My son, my daughter was lost, but now they are found. If you're not where you should be on your relationship with God, then today come on home. He wants to restore you into relationship with Him. He loves you. He's come to seek and save the lost. Next, number two, we see that God is looking for people who are worshipers. Jesus said in John chapter 4, verse 23, but the hour is coming and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth. For the Father is seeking such people to worship him. Worship isn't just an event, it's a lifestyle. We can enjoy times of worship with other believers like we are today, but we can also enjoy times of worship every day and all day, from the rising of the sun to the going down of the same, the name of the Lord is to be praised. And God is looking for people who are true worshipers, who spend time with Him in prayer and in His word, because that is worship in spirit and in truth. When we spend time in worship, both publicly and privately, we position ourselves, we get ourselves in a place where God can speak to us, He can refresh us, and He can restore us. In worship, a wonderful divine exchange takes place. It's like is described in Isaiah 61, verse 3, where he says, He will give them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, a garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness. In worship, this exchange takes place. He takes our ashes and he gives us beauty. In worship, he exchanges mourning for joy. And in worship, he removes the spirit of heaviness, and he clothes us with a garment of praise. Church family, let's be those who worship him in spirit and in truth. For me, I want to be one who gets under the spout where the blessing comes out, and that's a place of worship. Then let's look at number three. We see that God is seeking people who will pray. The Bible tells us in Ezekiel 22 and verse 30, I sought for a man who would build up the wall and stand in the breach before me for the land, that I should not destroy it, but I found none. You know, God is looking for people who will pray for people, and he's looking for people who will pray for nations. John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist Church, said that God will do nothing except in answer to prayer. He wants us to pray, His kingdom come and his will be done on earth as it is in heaven. God wants to save. And he wants us to be those who pray for people and places He lays on our hearts. Who can you pray for today? What individuals can you lift up before the throne? We must also remember that God wants us to ask Him for the nations for our inheritance and the ends of the earth for our possession. And he wants us to humble ourselves, people called by his name, and to pray so that he will hear from heaven, forgive our sin, and heal our land. Let's be his church, a house of prayer for the nations. Finally, number four, we see that God is seeking people who are fruitful. It tells us a parable in Luke chapter 13, verse 6 to verse 9, Jesus said, A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came seeking fruit on it and found none. He then says to the vine dresser, For three years now I've come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and I found none. Cut it down. Why should it use up the ground? And then he answered him, Sir, let it alone this year also, until I dig around it and put on manure. And if it should bear fruit next year, well and good, but if not, you can then cut it down. You know, God wants our lives to be fruitful. If he comes to examine your life today, will he find the fruit of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, meekness, and self-control in evidence in our lives? We need to be open to him coming and looking at our lives and where there is fruitfulness, pruning us so that we bear much and lasting fruit. As followers of Jesus, our lives should reflect him. He also wants our ministries and the things that we're involved in to be fruitful. God wants you and I to be fruitful. And we should often examine our lives and say, is this bearing fruit? And if it's not, perhaps we need to make some adjustments or even give a period of time, like it says in Luke chapter 13, before we make those adjustments, so that our lives are fruitful. So we don't waste the limited resources we have, like time and effort and energy. Let's make sure everything we do for the Lord bears much and lasting fruit. So we've seen today God is seeking people that He can show Himself strong on behalf of, that He can He can bless and He can reward. And God wants to bless you. Who's He looking for? Well, He's looking for people that are lost. Are you that lost sheep that He's coming out and seeking today and wants to bring back into the fold? Don't be disconnected. Don't be disconnected from your relationship with Him and your relationship with His people. Be reconnected. Let Him bless you by being a part of a life-giving local church. Secondly, remember we saw that God wants to bless people who are worshipers. Let's be those who worship Him this week in spirit and in truth. It's what we were made for, and it's where we find our greatest fulfillment and joy. Also, we saw that God is looking for people who would pray. And I want to encourage us to be those who pray for people and for nations. If God stirs your heart or wakes you up at night to pray for someone, be sensitive to the leading of the Holy Spirit. Be obedient to Him. Get up and pray. Pray for people by name. Who can you pray for today? And finally, we saw that God wants our lives to be fruitful and in particular the fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, meekness, and self-control. And I want to encourage us to be those vitally connected to the vine, those abiding in the vine, in his word, in his love, in him, so that we bear much and lasting fruit. Today, God is seeking us. Let's not hide any longer. Let's say, Lord, here am I, find me and bless me.