Mt. Lebanon United Presbyterian Church     
 
Pastor Tim Janiszewski - "Seeking God's Guidance"

Links:

 

Messages of Grace

(Past Recorded Sermons) 

















 
This Sunday
April 19, 2015


Sermon Title:
"Characters Wanted: Abraham"


Scripture:
Galatians 3:7-9, 26-29




Picture of Pastor Tim
April 16, 2015

 

Dear MLEPC Members and Friends:

 

If we had to choose the thing that is most important before a person can know God's will, what would we say? Many would say that yielding everything to God comes first. But let's consider another priority for guidance: We must have confidence in God.

 

God's objective is to teach us to walk with Him, to teach us to have union and communion with Him. When He puts a problem in our way, and we don't know which way to turn, God moves us to enter anew into a relationship of trust with Him. Can I really say I believe that Jesus rose from the dead if I can't believe that He will guide me about everyday matters? The God who raised Christ is the God who has promised to guide me. So I begin with faith.

 

Trusting in the Lord is not primarily a feeling. When Proverbs 3:5-6 instructs us to "trust in the Lord with all your heart," it does not mean emotion or conscience; it means will. Trust is a choice, a decision. Trust comes to God and says, "Lord, I don't know where all this is going or how it all works out, but I choose to believe You are going to provide and guide. You are more concerned about the situation than I am. So I have decided to base my future actions on this confidence. I put faith in You." This is what Abraham did in Genesis 12, our primary sermon text for Sunday. God bid Abraham to leave Haran and to travel to a land that God would eventually reveal to him. Abraham did not know where he was going or how it would all work out. But he chose to put faith in God who called him. And so he stepped out on a journey that would not only change his life, but would change the world forever. Faith took the first step. As the "children of Abraham" (Galatians 3:29), we too are called to step in faith in order to see God guide and provide. No wonder Scripture tells us that "Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness" by God (Genesis 15:6). Faith both puts us right with God and guides us on God's right paths.

 

Picture an Eskimo from Point Barrow who comes to Pittsburgh and sees a skyscraper for the first time. You tell him, "Press that button, and you'll go to the 30th floor." His feelings may not tell him that he will go to the 30th floor. But if he trusts you and presses the button, it will happen. In the same way we first trust God, stepping out in obedience, and then we see His guidance in our lives.

 

Pastor Tim

++++

Having Trouble Viewing the Clip Art?

 

If you are having trouble viewing the clip art on this Pastoral E-Letter, please go to the top of the page and click where it reads "Click Here." If you have Outlook, please right click in the image block and "download pictures."