#438 See Yourself Here, Series# 1, Ready To See

#438 See Yourself Here, Series# 1, Ready To See
By: D. Karl Thomas

(Sermon Notes & PowerPoint Slide links at the bottom of the page)

Isaiah 43:19 (NIV) “See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.”
Perceive:—become aware or conscious of (something); come to realize or understand.

Tommy Barnett Looking back over all your years of ministry what would you do different?
“I would dream bigger and I would risk more!”

“They seem to know enough about Christianity to spoil their enjoyment of the world, and yet they do not know enough to feel happy about themselves… they see, and yet they do not see”. Martin Lloyd Jones

Helen Kellar “The only thing worse than being blind is having sight but no vision.”

TWO SLIDES … What Color is the dress? Buzzfeed … 2 million votes 72% White And Gold

John 1:17-18 “For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has (Revealed nlt) declaredHim.” (Message) “made him plain as day.”

John 1:23-51

He said: “I am ‘The voice of one crying in the wilderness: “Make straight the way of the Lord,” ’ as the prophet Isaiah said.”
24 Now those who were sent were from the Pharisees. 25 And they asked him, saying, “Why then do you baptize if you are not the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?”
26 John answered them, saying, “I baptize with water, but there stands One among you whom you do not know. 27 It is He who, coming after me, [i]is preferred before me, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to loose.”
28 These things were done in [j]Bethabara beyond the Jordan, where John was baptizing.

The Lamb of God

29 The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! 30 This is He of whom I said, ‘After me comes a Man who [k]is preferred before me, for He was before me.’ 31 I did not know Him; but that He should be revealed to Israel, therefore I came baptizing with water.”
32 And John bore witness, saying, “I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and He remained upon Him. 33 I did not know Him, but He who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘Upon whom you see the Spirit descending, and remaining on Him, this is He who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ 34 And I have seen and testified that this is the Son of God.”

The First Disciples

35 Again, the next day, John stood with two of his disciples. 36 And looking at Jesus as He walked, he said, “Behold the Lamb of God!”
37 The two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus. 38 Then Jesus turned, and seeing them following, said to them, “What do you seek?” They said to Him, “Rabbi” (which is to say, when translated, Teacher), “where are You staying?”
39 He said to them, “Come and see.” They came and saw where He was staying, and remained with Him that day (now it was about the tenth hour).
40 One of the two who heard John speak, and followed Him, was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. 41 He first found his own brother Simon, and said to him, “We have found the [l]Messiah” (which is translated, the Christ). 42 And he brought him to Jesus. Now when Jesus looked at him, He said, “You are Simon the son of [m]Jonah. You shall be called Cephas” (which is translated, [n]A Stone).
43 The following day Jesus wanted to go to Galilee, and He found Philip and said to him, “Follow Me.” 44 Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. 45 Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found Him of whom Moses in the law, and also the prophets, wrote—Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.”
46 And Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.”
47 Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward Him, and said of him, “Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom is no deceit!”
48 Nathanael said to Him, “How do You know me?” Jesus answered and said to him, “Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.”
49 Nathanael answered and said to Him, “Rabbi, You are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!”
50 Jesus answered and said to him, “Because I said to you, ‘I saw you under the fig tree,’ do you believe? You will see greater things than these.” 51 And He said to him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, hereafter[o] you shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.”

See See Jesus See Yourself Community Others(Invite) operate under an open heaven!!!

Luke 3:5 “Every valley shall be filled And every mountain and hill brought low; The crooked places shall be made straight And the rough ways smooth;” Forerunner … team that prepared the way … easy trip

A 2007 study by Richard Wiseman from the University of Bristol involving 3,000 people showed that 88% of those who set New Year resolutions fail, despite the fact that 52% of the study’s participants were confident of success at the beginning.

New year’s resolutions demand willpower. Your brain cells that operate willpower are located in the prefrontal cortex, PICTURE

Dr. Baba Shiv (Stanford) “So your pre-frontal cortex that handles willpower is like a muscle, that needs to be trained, If you decide to train that muscle at the start of the new year with a resolution … that’s the equivalent of a 300 pound barbell you want to lift without any previous training.”

Prepared To See:
1. Fill The Valleys Loss / Betrayal / Wounds
Luke 4:18 “He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives And recovery of sight to the blind, To set at liberty those who are oppressed;”

2. Lower The Mountains vs. 31,33 “I did not know Him.”
“It’s what you learn after you know it all that counts.” ― John Wooden.
I think I already know what it will look like and then because of my exalted bias I miss with the Spirit is pointing out. PRIDE! / Religion

3. Confront Crookedness Confusion / Apathy / Division
Philippians 3:13 “But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead,…”
Acts 26:19 “Therefore, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision,”

4. Smooth The Rough Stuff Offense / Frustrations
Matthew 11:3 “Are You the Coming One, or do we look for another?”
Mark 4:38 “Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?”

Ephesians 1:16-21 “…do not cease to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers: that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, the eyes of your understanding being enlightened;…

“…that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power which He worked in Christ when …”

“…when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come.”

Yourself Here, Series# 1, Ready to See, Sermon notes to print, PDF

See Yourself Here, Series# 1, PowerPoint Slides, PDF