On Sunday we looked at the topic of finding a new future. And to be honest this is something I think we need. I think we all need to dream about new possibilities and what God might want to do in and through us.
The tough part is that while in theory we say we trust in God for our futures, in practice we don’t.
If I were to ask you: who guarantees your future?
Who do you trust in for your future? While many of us might want to say Jesus, I think in practice many of us trust in different things.
Some of us trust in our bank accounts for our futures. That if we have more money our futures will be secure. Some of trust in our doctors for our futures, that their diagnosis determines whether the future will be good or bad. Some of us trust in our present circumstances to determine our futures. That if things are going well, we think they’ll continue, or if they go bad, they’ll keep going bad. Some of us actually trust in our sins for our futures. I know, a weird way to put it, but true. We believe that because of this past sin, mistake, choice, whatever, our future is limited or constricted in some way.
The point I want to make is that while in theory we might trust in God for our futures, in real life the temptation is to trust in so many other things. To trust in our own abilities, present conditions, or current trajectory of life.
The point is what if we trusted in God?
Because God says this:
I am doing a new thing. Are you alert? Are you watching for it? Because it is happening. It’s bursting out! Don’t you see it? (Isaiah 43:19)
This is God’s position on our futures, that he is doing something new. The question is do you trust in him to do something new – in you? That’s the question, and it’s only by trusting in God that our futures open up, expand, and become limitless.
God has proven again and again that he loves to take broken, burnt out, and passed over people to change the world. Just look at Abraham, Moses, David, or Paul. God specializes in doing a new thing.
So on Sunday we gave a challenge to trust that God wants to do a new thing in your life and to discover it, by listening to him. I believe that God can be taken at his word, that he is doing a new thing, and that if we are alert, watching for it, we will find it.
And my prayer is that you do find the new thing God is doing, because it is happening, it is bursting out, do you see it?
Sermon Notes:
Big Idea: God can give you a new future if you trust in him
Teaching Points:
- Our futures can shrink, as we age.
- Who is your future dependent on?
- Who are you trusting to guarantee your future?
- I am doing something new – God
- God is in the business of doing new things.
- God can give you a new future if you trust in him.
Adult Discussion Questions:
What stuck out to you from the sermon? What was challenging to you? How did God speak to you through it? What was new? What were your first impressions to the topic for today? Does it seem to you that growing older does limit your future? How would you answer the question “Who are you trusting to guarantee your future?” What do you believe your future looks like right now? What does your future look like with God involved? What does he want to do in your future?
Discussion Questions for Young Families
Today talk with your kids about their futures. Ask them what they want to do, and who they want to be. Today learn from your kids. Sense the enthusiasm, the belief, the sense of excitement and possibility. Learn from them, and seek to bring that into your relationship with God today.
Challenge for the Week: Trust in God for your Future.
Plattsville Church 