Finding Your Voice in the Storm | Pastor Carter Conlon

praise God Palm Sunday this is a day where Jesus made his triumphal entry into Jerusalem and thank God that he did and of course the scripture tells us that he came in on a donkey which was the sign of and an emphasis of peace as it was if a king was coming in to conquer if the king was coming in to overthrow his enemies he would generally come in on a horse and the chariot but the fact that the king of all the universe came in on the donkey is telling us that he desired to make peace with you and with me and thank God he did I want you to turn with me in your Bibles please if you will to Matthew chapter 21 and we're going to begin to read at verse 6 if you will father thank you God with all my heart for the touch of heaven that's on your word help us Lord Jesus Christ as your people to find our voices in the storm this present storm that we are going through in this country and in this world Lord you have a people and you have given us a voice so help us Lord to rediscover our voice or perhaps discover it for the first time for many who would be part of this today and Lord we thank you God that you're going to give that great grace and we give you the praise and the glory touch this physical body and give me the ability Lord to speak this word this morning let every heart be gladdened let the challenge of God go out across the internet waves and Lord Jesus Christ help us in our hearts to respond and we thank you for it in your precious name Amen Matthew 21 beginning at verse 6 so the disciples went and did as as Jesus commanded them they brought the donkey and the Colt laid their clothes on them and set him on them and a very great multitude spread their clothes on the road others cut down branches from the trees and spread them on the road this is where we get the concept of a Palm Sunday then the multitudes who went before and those who followed cried out Hosanna to the son of David blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord hosanna in the highest and when he had come into Jerusalem all the city was moved saying who is this so the multitude said this is Jesus the Prophet from Nazareth of Galilee what an incredible day of victory it was for so many this is the the people of Israel this is what they had looked forward to for thousands of years this this was the fulfillment of every promise that the Old Testament Scriptures gave them that one day there would be a messiah who would be a son of David in a sense and sit upon the throne of Israel and rule and reign forever and they would be delivered from all of their enemies everything that was ever against them of course their present reality was that they had were being oppressed by the nation of Rome at the time and yet here was the the dream actually had come true the king had come he was coming in on a donkey the people were shouting out Hosanna to the son of David now that they knew what that meant that meant that their Messiah had come they were going to be set free their future was going to be secure and all the promises in the Old Testament there'd be they be brought to a place where there's no more tears no more sorrow no more sighing no more sickness I mean all these promises were in the scripture and they knew these promises can you just imagine like we will experience this one day when we're delivered from this present world as it is and brought into the kingdom of heaven for eternity but in their minds it was happening now this was the the hope of every heart the hope of all their dreams and they were worshipping and singing hosanna in the highest and they were just days away though from what would be for many if not all of them the darkest days of their lives they had no idea what was coming just a few days down the road they would ask themselves how is it possible that what started out so smoothly it was the fulfillment of our dreams had in a few short days gone so wrong and we we think about America too you know the the land of opportunity the land of freedom the land of where we can freely worship God the land where every person can pursue life liberty and happiness and the land where the stock market seemed to be just forever and ever and ever going up the land where retirement plans were gaining money for those that were putting their investments into it and we think of a lot of people felt like perhaps there the dreams had been realized there their secure the future was secure only to have it it goes south in such a short time as a matter of fact there were say a wealthy person in the news this morning that said we are about to experience America 2.0 and this is what he meant when he said this that America is about to land in an unfamiliar place it's about to become a country that it has never been we're about to go through things that we've never possibly had to go through to such a depth before and he's calling it America 2.0 in a short just moment hopes were dashed for these people in this opening scripture the dreams were gone their confidence was shaken as everything seemed to go south as I said earlier just in just a moment of time you know the scripture tells us the Apostle Paul says in 1st Thessalonians chapter 5 verses 1 to 5 he says concerning the times and the seasons brethren you have no need that I should write to you for you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night for when they say peace and safety then sudden destruction comes upon them as labor pains upon a pregnant woman and they shall not escape but you brethren are not in darkness so that this day should overtake you as a thief you are all sons of light and sons of the day we are not of the night nor of darkness no doubt voices were being raised everywhere voices of caution voices of concern voices of panic as this son of David the promise that they felt life and the future held for them suddenly was being taken captive and it seemed like everything that they had hoped for was now being destroyed right before their eyes the king that they'd waited for for so long the security had all offered were suddenly dissipating just seemingly falling like sand through everybody's fingers and and I don't think that you or I can possibly understand the shock of that moment you imagine waiting for something all of your life you imagine talking about it with your parents and your grandparents and your great-grandparents and passed down from house to house and and table the table and talk talking about this moment that was gonna come and it finally came and when it came it just suddenly all just fell through everybody's fingers I don't think we can fully understand the shock of that moment if we if we did fully understand it we would be less quick to condemn the disciples when they they failed to understand the moment that they were living in just before the cross and in their confusion began to even deny as Peter did that they'd ever even known the Lord Jesus Christ all these voices raised in our society today there's there's voices everywhere I don't know about you but I'm getting really tired of all these voices all these voices that don't seem to know where we're going all these voices with looking to point the finger and blame somebody else for what's going on lying voices exaggerating voices voices of gloom and doom voices of optimism not based in any reality I'm so tired of these voices thank god that's all I can say there's a voice that rises above every other voice in every storm you remember the disciples in the boat going across that sea and you can just picture that the wind is howling and the waves are roaring and the disciples are there saying Wiggin map or or do something somebody we're starting to perish all these voices then suddenly the Son of God rises up in that boat and his voice has power over every storm his voice has the power over the elements his voice can bring those who trust in him to safety his voice rises above every voice you see there was a voice being raised up only a few days from Palm Sunday it was a voice that had the power to calm the destructive power of this storm you see but it was on a cross and because it was on a cross most everybody thought this voice had been defeated but had they been listening they would have understood it was the same voice that had once been raised in the boat in the storm it was the same voice that at the beginning of all things in Genesis 1 where the scripture says and God said and things were created and things were given boundaries and things were given life and things were given borders it was that same voice that was on the cross and this voice even though it looked like it had been defeated you know we're living in a generation where I'm sure there are some people that are given to darkness that believe that the voice of God in our generation has been defeated I want to challenge anyone who holds to that opinion people have made that mistake in the past you cannot defeat the voice of God you cannot defeat the God of eternity the God of all power the God of all Authority the God who created the universe by the words of his mouth the God who brought his son out of the grave after three days you can't defeat that voice there's no way that you can defeat that voice and may I remind you that voice can never be silenced now we can cease to hear it because we are shouting too loud we can cease to hear it because we are listening to the crowd with all of their opinions and all their wolves and all of their blame and everything else we can cease to hear it but that voice still is above every other voice and I find it interesting from the perspective of a picture that that voice was up on a hill on a cross and it was above that voice actually was above the other voices if people could still hear it and this voice of Christ on the cross was speaking of victory in spite of what every buddy around it looked like there was just nothing but defeat but that voice was speaking of victory I think of some of the words of Jesus on the cross when he said it is finished in other words the power of sin to destroy you the power of the present storms of this world to take away your eternal hope the power of rebellion that separates men and women and children from God is finished there was a victory happening on that cross but to the natural it didn't look like victory but there was a great great victory that was happening and I thank God I wish I had been there to hear this voice I can hear it in my spirit obviously but I wish I had been there to hear this voice when he called out it is finished the separation between men and God that veil that separates men from God is being torn from the top to the bottom and away is being made for every person who wants to to come back into relationship with God and a way is being made for the heart of God who wants to come back into relationship with his creation you know the scripture tells us when that veil when Jesus said it is finished and he finally gave up the spirit the veil that separated man from God was torn in two from the top to the bottom that shows me the hands of God were at the top and just ripped that veil the scripture also tells us that that suddenly rocks were split into graves were open and the dead began to rise as as God in my mind I see God coming out saying I've waited for this moment to defeat everything that has been sent to defeat those that are created in my image it was a moment of incredible victory even though in the natural it was dark in the world there was an eclipse of the Sun more or less we don't know fully understand all that happened in the heavenlies we just know it was dark on the earth but there was a victory even in the midst of that darkness a victory beyond a victory that's ever been won in any battle anywhere any time any country any place any heart any home a victory that there will never be another one quite like it it was an amazing victory the voice that was raised above the storm was also speaking about forgiveness Father forgive them they don't know what they're doing you see if you can hear in the midst of you storm that voice of the Son of God is still speaking today speaking about a victory that he won for you a victory that is yours if you will turn to Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior a victory that you don't win by being a better person you don't win it by trying to do right things in your own strength as good as they might be the Bible tells us that sin separates from God and the wages of sin is still death but the second half of that verse says but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord and so if you can hear it in the midst of your storm today the voice of God coming to you is about victory is about a and eternal a secure hope forgiveness for your future a life and strength that can only come from God this is the voice that rises still even today above the voice of every other voice in our present day storm because you and I are no longer separated from God that same voice has now been entrusted to us do you remember Jesus said to his disciples as the father has sent me even so now I send you you remember in the book of John after he was raised from the dead he came into that first Upper Room and it says he breathed upon them and said to them receive the Holy Spirit you remember in the book of Acts chapter 2 when those early disciples went into that upper room and prayed and the Spirit of God came upon them the first thing that happened is they went out of that room into the marketplace and they were doing the very thing in a sense that had been done on the cross now they were not bringing about any form of redemption that already had been accomplished through Jesus Christ but there were now being given the voice of God the scripture says they were speaking about things to come it was amazing it was so stunning that people who were just simply religious knew that they didn't have this kind of a voice or this kind of a power flowing through them and see the point that I'm trying to make today is that it's now imperative that you and I find our god-given voices in this present storm he entrusted this voice of victory and this voice of forgiveness to you and to me now in order to find this voice again in order to walk in the power of the voice of God speaking through us we need to become a people of Prayer again we need to shut ourselves away from all the voices that are all around us trying to lead us into anger or division or bitterness or a resentment or all these other things in this generation and then we need to have one more time begin to pray and hear the voice of God and when you hear the voice of God the scripture will bear witness that you will come out of that place of hearing his voice declaring what God is speaking and not only will you be given confidence but you and I will take a lot of people into the kingdom of God with us in the book of Acts chapter 27 the Bible speaks of a journey that the Society of that time decided to take they wouldn't listen they were warned that the Apostle Paul told them in verse 10 men I perceived that this voyage will end with disaster and much loss not only of the cargo in the ship but also of our lives they wouldn't listen they were warned in America we undertook a journey a soft journey a few decades ago and the voices of God that were raised up nobody would listen to these voices we decided as a society that we knew better than God we knew how to undertake this journey we knew where we wanted to get to only to find ourselves today in a storm just like they found themselves in a storm verse 13 says when the wind blew softly supposing they had obtained their desire putting out to sea they sailed by Crete but after a long but not long after a tempestuous head wind arose called euroclydon and when the ship was caught we could not head into the wind but we let her drive and that's exactly where we're at today as a matter of fact for years the Lord's been usually this passage the scriptures from acts 27 to speak to my heart about the future of America what it was going to look like that we have not listened to the Word of God and because we've not listened and in our arrogance undertook our own journey to do things our own way and when the wind blew softly we thought we were going to obtain our objectives but now by the mercy of God just as the people were in our opening text just as the people were in acts 27 we find ourselves in a storm of unprecedented proportion I would garner a guest today that we've never seen a storm like this next to maybe this civil war in America but I think the storm is deeper I think just as in the days of the Apostle Paul the scripture says in verse 20 when neither Sun nor stars appeared for many days and no small tempest beat on us all hope that we would be saved was finally given up where we're heading there in the not-too-distant future we're going to America 2.0 we're going to land in a place that we've never been before we're going to find ourselves in a society that's very foreign to what we thought this nation was going to be in our present time and in the days ahead of us but what would what would make a difference in a time like this and so it's my question to you what could make a difference when all these voices are rising when all the confusion is swirling all around us there was one man one person this is why I'm calling the young to get back into the Word of God and to be set apart for God and for the kingdom of God there was one man in the belly of that ship who was spending time with God and in spending time with God in prayer he discovered his voice in the midst of the storm and what all hope seemed to be lost suddenly the Apostle Paul appears on the deck of that ship and he stood in the midst of them and said men you should have listened to me and not sailed from Crete and incurred this disaster and lost you should have listened it's your stubbornness as a nation it's your rebellion it's your unwillingness to hear the word of God that has brought this in a hardship into your meds and you should have listened but thank God the voice of God does not leave people there because people can be so discouraged and so cast down if our only messages is simply just repent then the people are going to be discouraged but having the voice of God Paul now goes beyond just saying I warned you I told you you should have listened and it's it's fairly obvious that America is in the trouble we're in because we embraced a light gospel journey we went our own way we did our own thing we started calling evil good and good evil we started redefining things like marriage and family and suchlike and because of it we're now in the storm that we're in and we should have listened to the Word of God but we didn't and now we're in a storm of epic proportions we're heading to a foreign place in a sense that we've never been to before but Paul doesn't stay there he warns the people and says you should have listened so in other words now start listening that's what he said basically you didn't listen it brought about the storm so now I'm telling you to start listening if anybody is out there today and you're listening across the nation or across the world here's here's the simplicity of my message start listening to the Word of God start listening to the voice of God start listening the calling of God start listening to the direction of God for their there is no hope for the future unless the voice of God comes and brings us now to that place of safety brings us into that victory and brings us into this incredible mercy that is now available it always has been available to us through the cross of Jesus Christ now in verse 22 paul now moves to where our voices have to move - he says now i urge you to take heart for there shall be no loss of life among you but only of the ship in other words everything physically around you is going to change but I have a word from God and I know where my life is going and I know what God has called me to do and I have been in prayer and because God has shown me his voice shown me his heart he's also shown me the depth of his victory and his mercy and I'm telling you this storm doesn't have the power to take away your life if you will listen to what God has given me to say you remember Paul said to the the Centurions of soldiers you said unless you stay with the ship you cannot be saved don't try to get out of this storm your own way there's only one voice that's going to get you and I to safety now one voice that's going to get us to a place where God wants us to go and that is the voice of God I know that voice in my own heart I know where I'm going I know that I'm going to Plymouth on October the 6th to lead a prayer meeting of repentance for the nation and asking God to rededicate this nation back to him again and to ask him to forgive us for what we have done with the grace that he showed us as a nation I know I have to be there so I'm not worried about the present storm and if you will listen if you will start moving with God if you will start listening to the voice of God God promises that he will keep you through the storm Paul told them he said we're all going to be cast upon a certain Island and everyone the ship is going to break apart but everyone if you if you'll grab hold of a piece of wood whether or not you can swim to start kicking your feet and you're gonna make it to shore now it's if you understood if you've ever seen an ocean storm of this magnitude I have where waves are so big that they're actually breaking the back of a ship apart the odds of getting to shore are almost zero the undertow would be so strong even hanging onto wood you couldn't make it but because God is more powerful than any storm you'll ever face or any opposition that will ever come against you everyone grabbed a hold of a piece of wood and the scripture says the whole 276 on that boat with Paul made it to the shore thank God and when they got to shore they now began to see the power of God in operation all yes the devil tried to bite the hand of Paul and stop him from what God had called him to do and the devil will try to bite your hand and cause you to withdraw and say I'm just gonna I'm just gonna preserve myself I'm not going to be given any more for any of these people but Paul didn't do it he shook off that thing that bought bit him into the fire and from that same hand healing began to flow and this is the cry of my heart that through my life and through yours that the words of God would start to be spoken and the healing of God would begin to flow through our hands to our friends to our families to our neighbors to our communities you see we were born as a people of power in the book of Acts and we we drew back and we settled by being self focused we settled for being self focused in the people of just theological argument but that's not what the church is supposed to be we're supposed to speak for God we're supposed to bring people to safety this should be power in our words over the storm over everything that threatens not just us but threatens our neighbors our friends and even our enemies there were enemies of Paul on that ship but the kindness of God that was once extended through the cross to those who had crucified Christ is now through Paul being extended to even those who had caused him incredible suffering and pain in his physical body this is the voice of God this is the power of God this is the grace of God this is the victory of God this is the forgiveness of God and thank God that once again in our generation you and I have been given the incredible opportunity to speak for him one more time get a word from God in your home and tell your family where you are going and tell them that they will follow they will be safe get a word from God speak it to your neighbors talk about the mercy of God talk about the victory of Christ yes warn them of the penalty of sin but talk more about the gift of God eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord praise be to God this whole society is open because of the storm in the days of the Apostle Paul they never would have listened at everything continued to go smoothly it was because of the storm that God sent it was because of the storm the God sent that they were able to enter into the safety of God and have an opportunity to receive Christ as Savior I want you to remember this morning that mercy still triumphs over judgment mercy means you see judgment is when you and I die and we are destined then to spend our eternity in hell apart from God as and our minds can't even comprehend how awful that really is that's judgment but mercy triumphs in the sense that even if we should die in whatever days are ahead of us that heaven becomes our eternal home and we live and rule and reign with Christ forever that's mercy triumphing over judgment you asked me today pastor well how can I get out of my storm how can I learn to hear the voice of God how can my life be used to make a difference I'm going to give it as simply as I can to you firstly admit that you have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God of what that means of what God intended your life to be admit that your ways are not God's ways that the way you live the way you think the things you've done the lies you've told whatever it is that you've been involved in has separated you from a holy God and admit that you can't save yourself and secondly believe that God so loved you God so loved you that's why he sent his son into Jerusalem to die on the cross to pay the penalty the price for all the wrong things that you have done to declare both victory and forgiveness to you from the cross believe that Jesus took your place believe it with all your heart believe that it's as simple as saying God I open my heart to you and I accept your offer when you stretched out your hands on that cross your hands were stretched out to me and when you spoke about victory and forgiveness you were speaking about me it's Oh Lord I have no plea but your mercy so I come to you today and I open my heart and I invite you to come into my life and to be my Lord and my Savior and thirdly confess with your mouth that Jesus Christ is your Lord and Savior even if it you're only doing that if you're all alone today and you're doing that in the confines of your own bedroom or your own apartment you're just vocally and verbally and out loud say Jesus Christ you are now Lord of my life you are not my Savior you are my god you are the voice that rises above the storms of my heart and my mind you are the one who invited me to be a partaker of this incredible victory that was won on the cross and you are the one who promised to give me not just eternal life but a full and abundant life here on this side of eternity and you promised that my voice would now be in line with yours and that you would give me power in my speech you would explain to me my future and give me the ability to take others with me into this harbour of safety that you provided for us because of your cross you see that's as simple as it is so now I'm going to lead you in a prayer everyone who's online today I know we got families all over the place some some of you even go to church and that's a good thing but there's also many people many young people too that you've never ever prayed that prayer you've never ever fully yielded your life to Jesus Christ you've never just just gone all the way it may I put it that way and got gotten into the game yourself but today that's all going to change today you're going to open your heart and let the voice of the son of God speak to you and then you're going to open your mouth and let the son of God speak through you and you watch what God is going to do in your life and through your life so I'm going to ask I'm going to lead you in a prayer and I'm going to say it very slowly and I want to I'm going to ask you to pray it with me pray it out loud if you want to or pray it quietly in your heart if you can but in any event please just pray with me and amid severe storm and open your heart to this incredible salvation through Jesus Christ now I'm going to say the words and I'm going to ask you to repeat them after me Lord Jesus Christ I thank you for loving me so much that you came into this world you went to a cross and you paid the price for the wrong that I have done I thank you that on that cross you spoke to me about victory and about forgiveness and you invited me to be saved from these presents store my men and from the penalty and the power of sin Jesus Christ today I opened my heart to you and I invite you to come into my life to be my Lord and my Savior and my god forgive me for the things I've done and for trying to live this life my own way from now on I will follow you I will confess you as my Lord and my Savior all the days of my life thank you you will give me a voice in the midst of the storm to lead many others around me to that place of safety that you offer them as well I love you Jesus thank you for loving me and speaking to my heart today from this day forward you are my Savior my God and the Lord of my life lead me teach me guide me for the rest of my days thank you for loving me in Jesus name Amen now if you're listening online today and you prayed that prayer we want an opportunity to get in touch with you just to encourage you so I'm going to ask you to text decided or just write the word text the word decided to eight eight - OH - that's eight eight - OH - on your cell phone and just text the word decided and we would like to get back to you to encourage you maybe to help direct you to some Bible studies and things like that online that we would recommend that can help you in your new walk with God what looks to be a disaster in our society has just become your victory it caused you to begin to think it caused you to turn and for all the Christian people out there let me remind you it's time for you and I to pray it's time for you and I to find our voice in the storm and speak for God

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Length: 35min 1sec (2101 seconds)

Published: Tue Apr 21 2020