Lost

Lost – Week 1

Original outline by Chris Spradlin

Gut Level Honesty Game: Check if applies to you…

I’m not satisfied with…

Cell phone coverage Financial situation

My body My parents

How I am living my life

In 1965 the lyrics to “I can’t get no satisfaction” were written by Mick Jagger.The song was all about how he was having an amazing outward success he was eroding on the inside.

It was the same with how King Solomon could not get any satisfaction.

The first page of his notes says (aka Ecclesiastes).

“Meaningless, meaningless says the Teacher. Utterly meaningless, everything is meaningless.” Ecclesiastes 1:2

We're like, "Hey man could you just be a little more honest with us here?"

This King was once full of purpose and had a plan, but he kind of took a road trip from God.

(we watched a video about how trying different things in life is like giving everything a huge taste test. The problem is that after a while you look down at all of these empty things that you tried to be satisfied with, but none of it worked. It can leave us feeling even more empty than when we started.)

- Maybe if I can get boyfriend/girlfriend

- drinking… maybe one more will make me happy

- maybe it’s the way you look.. if you’re better looking then maybe it will make me feel better

-

King Solomon went on a 40 year search for satisfaction, instead he ended up lost wandering through life.

40 years lost and gone

Some of you maybe feel the same way… man I’ve lost 2 years lost and gone.

So one day when he’s driving he pulls over and makes one last entry in journal.

Ok, I’ve got more money to search higher and deeper than anyone else could I've done more than you can imagine, but all I have is this final conclusion.

• His final conclusion “Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.”

Man some of you are like “fear God” man I grew up with that, forget that.

You think that God is some kind of Cosmic kill joy just waiting you for you to screw up.

Fearing God isn’t about being afraid of him, it’s about worshiping Him.

There are times that when I prayed something so powerful was going on that I've sensed His presence.

Some of you are like “man I have not connected like God like that in a long time”

Some of you are just so in despair and want that kind of connection

And you don’t know where to go.

Well here's a great action step.

1. Cultivate a heart of worship.

“Come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the Lord our Maker.”

Psalms 95:6

How we can cultivate a heart of worship:

• Be still.
• Confess.
• Meditate on God’s Word.
• Practice the presence of God.

(I told a story here about my dad Jack who got lost because he wouldn't listen to the GPS in the car.)

I believe that all of us have a GPS built in us called "The Holy Spirit."

Unfortunately we often just turn it off because we think we know a better way or because the voice just starts feeling a little old to us.

And that’s the idea of following God’s commandments.

2. God deserves our radical obedience.

- God has built us an internal GPS called the Holy Spirit

There’s this voice saying “hey you’ve got to recalculate your route, your destination is peace, hope, and purpose so you’ve got to recalculate.” And instead of you just kind of hit the cancel button.

- sometimes you get caught up in the scenery

“My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.” John 10:27

I wish Jesus would said “my people are like rhinoceroses, they can pave their own way.”

How a shepherd broke in a new lamb

- through developing a personal relationship

- by watching over them

- but eventually putting them into the fold

- sometimes the sheep would run away and get lost never to return from the mountains it just went to

- and sometimes it would go so far that it wouldn’t be able to hear the shepherd’s voice.

Question for some of you

“Do you hear the shepherd’s voice?”

Can you recognize God’s voice in your life?

If you want purpose, it’s only found in following God.

When you finish your time here, the only thing that’s going to matter is if you know the voice of your God.

And you only know that through that relationship with Him, that accepts the direction of your built in GPS.

It’s through a relationship with Christ.

What the shepherd did to the sheep that got away, but He found again.

- He would break their legs so the lamb would have to learn how to depend on Him again.

- It keeps you close

- And makes you get lower.

Sometimes it all starts with the prayer "God, do whatever it takes to bring me closer to you."

(the night concluded with a time of prayer)