Trending - Week 2 - The CORE - Pastor Mike Novotny
Trending
Week 2 - The CORE
Pastor Mike Novotny
Well, good morning. Happy Sunday, and welcome back to week 2 of this big sermon series called “Trending” for a kickoff today. How many of you were here last week for week one was “Trending”. Tell me did or did not Pastor Michael you are totally murder that sermon it was so so good. I was watching online. My daughter's confirmation was last week and I'm texting him. Like dude. I hang out with a bunch of seventh graders who say bro, like every other word and so I just kept texting “bro, bro, bro”. That was so good. So you haven't heard it yet. Michael tackled with his amazing scientific brain of the phrase “science is real”, if you missed it. You got to find it online. It is well worth your time. So brings us here to week 2 of our sermon series called “Trending”. I'm not a hundred percent sure of this. But I think the birds are God's way of messing with me?
Awhite back, I met a Christian who told me that they thought the red Cardinals that were landing on their back porch was a special message from God about a loved one who had just passed.
I heard this before and maybe I grew up a little bit too Lutheran, but I'll stick it in my head. Nah, and so, I'm thinking about a month ago, 3-4 weeks ago, this cardinal lands on the back porch, and my wife knows, I'm a little bit skeptical about all this and I say, “Honey do you think that's God sending you a message about your dad, that he's okay in Heaven. And God must have known. I was being a little bit snarky, because do you know what has happened ever since? I made that comment? It has been like, Cardinalpalooza and the Novotny house. We rarely ever see cardinals. I can't go a single day, without seeing the cardinal, they land on the back deck. They fly in front of my car. I see them everywhere I go. I'm landed on a tree branch. I came close to it, and it wouldn't fly away. And he just looked at me on just saying and if I recognize
What a cardinal sounds like and now, they're waking me up. I'm inside my house in my bed and cardinals are everywhere, the best part about four days ago. I went to a local coffee shop. The Baristas making something, that's 18 year old girl, and she turns around to take my order and what is she wearing that gray sweatshirt that your grandma owns? Right. With a screen printed bright red cardinal. Right on the front will change like, okay, I get it. I'm not a hundred percent sure, but it feels like God is speaking to me.
That's the thing. I want to talk to you about today, God speaking to you.
Your overriding experience where it just felt it, just seemed like God was speaking directly to you. Like not necessarily you're in church Open Bible, you know, reading the word of God, but there's just there's something about the situation where you think that is either the craziest coincidence or God is trying to talk to me and maybe you're going through something big in life. You're trying to decide on work or college. They stay local. Do you go out of state? You're asking God for a sign for a sign for a sign than just something happens. That either feels really, really crazy.
Or it's the sign that you're waiting for. Or maybe ever been through like a breakup or a divorce or something really difficult and you just not coping with it very well and you get in the car and you turn on the radio and the song that pops on is just so, like spot-on. What are the odds that DJ would play that song at that time? When you were thinking about that very thing. You're had a dream. They just seem to connect with what you were going through in life. As a friend of yours said something to you that was totally serendipitous or maybe the Holy Spirit speaking through them. If you ever just had a thought or a feeling or an impression. Or you can clear this at this has to be God. God nudging me got poking me. Got a whispering to me. God speaking to me. God loves me. He wants to help me. I need help, and this feels like this is exactly it.
What do you think about that? I mean, it's a beautiful stories that I've heard about God, see me and to guide people and really intentional and unique and beautiful ways. And then all these other stories where it just seems like, no. It may be, I'm sensitive to this, because I'm a pastor, and we're a church that's on TV. And you do anything about pastors who have been on TV, especially through the 80s and early 90s. God told me.
Was like red flag central. God told me. We got to build a new building. God told me. We need to raise 10 million dollars. If you just give a seed of faith today. Right. So God told me you'd already skeptical, you don't to be mean, but how, how do you know the difference between God actually speaking and guiding and directing by his spirits? And people just saying or feeling or thinking what comes out of their own hearts? It's a really huge question. How does God communicate with you?
Here's why I care about the answer to that question. Because God is God. And you. Are you?
God is God, he knows everything. He knows the name of every star that he created and placed in the sky. He knows the exact number of hairs on your head. He knows every time a cardinal or any other kind of bird falls from the sky. God knows everything. And you know, fence, you're like me.
Enter your username and password, the screen says. And you think let's guess this one. Was there a capital letter? An exclamation point? Is it just my email? I don't know if we can't even remember our own passwords. And so we don't we don't know what to do. We don't always know the path to take. We can't see to the end of the road when we have to make a big decision, but God can and so, it's one of the actually smartest thing in the world to say, God. I just don't want to do something that sabotages my life in the end. So but you know, so speak to me, tell me, help me, guide me and if that wasn't enough, I also think about this that God isn't just all knowing.
He's also perfectly loving. Because God is love and love in the Bible means just to do what's best whenever God speaks to us. It's always for our best. Might be an easy word. It might be a challenging word. It might be a difficult word. But God always wants what's best for you. So if he speaks to, you don't have to wonder like, who is he messing with me? Is he trying to get me? He's God. He's love. It has to be good. And you and I mean, if you've ever gotten drunk before and woken up totally hungover. That's proof that you don't always think of what's good in the long term. Sometimes you and I are smart and self-controlled and we do what's best for our future and sometimes we just say it or we smoke it or we do it, or we choose it just because we care about this very moment. And so, you know, here we are. People who have mixed motives, people who don't know the future, and then there's God, who knows everything about the future and whose motives are always good. And so, my points,
It is so natural. It is so wise for us to put up our hands in humility and say, God. Tell me. Guide me. Help me speak to me.
And so that's the question. I want to wrestle with you today. How does God do that? How does God speak to people? How does God communicate with you? How do you know, how can you be? Sure it's not just your own subconscious your own, how can you know, put your faith on it and absolutely trust it that God is speaking directly to you. I'll get a pen if you take notes because here's the first big thing I want to say is I studied that theme throughout the Bible. The first fill in the blank in your program. If you take notes and it says that God has spoken in many ways.
Read the Bible from cover to cover. You don't have to go very far and you realize that when God wants to speak to people, he does it in really different, really unique and, sometimes, very interesting ways.
The story of Moses and the burning bush, that God's going to call. Moses speak a word directly to him to save his people. But he doesn't speak in an old book or an ancient scroll Moses is just like, shepherding his flock until God speaks. You heard of the Prophet, Elijah? He's running for his life from a wicked King Ahab and his murderous wife Jezebel and there's this earthquake and this fire in this with these powerful miracles and signs, but God doesn't speak in that. Instead, a still, small voice.
God spoke.
Daniel and Joseph. They woke up in the middle of the night with dreams that were God's speaking to them. Ever heard of Isaiah Ezekiel, or Jeremiah? It was visions that they saw that they communicated to the people of God. You ever heard of this guy named Balaam? Before Baalam was like this shifty. shady money-hungry kind of false prophets and he got on his donkey and he was riding it down, this reckless path, and God spoke to him. He can find him and he called him out. You know, how he did it? The Bible says the donkey turned around and spoke to him. So God can speak through a donkey, right? He could. He's God, he can do whatever he wants. It can be a wind. It can be a whisper. It can be a word. It can be a burning bush. A talking animal. He's God. He can communicate in many, many different ways. And that's what our first passage for today. Proves the very first verse of the book of Hebrews says this in the past, God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways. God wanted to help people guide people and bless people. He uses all kinds of ways dreams. Whispers booming from the heavens. Speaking through animals. God did that. The fact is because God doesn't change. He can still do that.
Is it theoretically possible that God could put a dream in your mind? That would help you make a good decision.
Yeah. It's possible. You know, you just went through a breakup and your hearts broken and you're lacking the peace and joy that God could nudge that one. DJ from that one station to just happen to think of that. One song that was like your song. So you get in the car during that one car ride of that, one hour of that. One minute. You would push the button.
He's God. Yes. I can do that. Is it possible that maybe your coping with a bad day at work? And you're pouring one glass of wine too many and God sends your dog to sit on the couch, right next to in the dog, looks at you, like Yes, you can. If you spoke to her donkey, you can put an expression on your dog's face. God, God could do anything because he's God. It's a beautiful thing about him. He's not limited. He's not restricted to a book, a chapter of verse. He is the god who can do all things in the past, God spoke and many times. And in various ways, which means, God absolutely can. Here's the tricky part. Even though God can. Can you absolutely be sure, it's God?
As I’m trying to read between the lines of a dream or interpret the message of a song or figure out if that's just your dog being weird or if that's from above, if that thought came from your heart or from God's heart. I'm he got it. Absolutely can do anything, but can you be absolutely sure that God is speaking to you.
How much you think of George Whitfield? Few of you church history buffs know that name George Whitfield was perhaps one of the most influential pastors of the 1700s. He was so gifted at his sermons and even Benjamin Franklin, who is not a fan of Christianity, loved to listen to George Whitfield. Talk about Jesus. Back in 1743, George and his wife, Elizabeth had a baby boy and God told George. So he said that this little boy would grow up to be a great preacher of the Gospel of Jesus.
In fact, George and Elizabeth were so sure that God had told this to them they named their little son John. Like John the Baptist whose mother was also named Elizabeth, by the way, at his baptism service, George baptized his infant son and he preached to the gathered crowds about this, this prophecy, this impression that he had from God. My son is going to grow up and do great things because he will preach the great news of our great Savior Jesus.
Except it didn't happen. John Whitfield did not grow up to be a great preacher of the Gospel.
In part because John Whitfield never became a preacher of the Gospel. Which was true because John Woodfield never grew up.
At the tender age of just four months, Little John had a seizure and he died. I felt so, certain who so absolutely convinced in his own head that he didn't just whisper it to close family and friends. He proclaimed it publicly to his church, staked his reputation out of, he found out that the message he fought was from above. Actually just came from within him.
Ever told you about the time that happened to me? So I've been a church guy follower of Jesus for 41 years. There's only one time in my life that I thought God spoke directly to me.
I at the church conference. I'm sitting in the back. I bowed my head to pray and something. Something physically happened to me.
I felt like this warmth start from the top of my head and slowly start to work its way through my body. Never felt anything like it my whole life. And then this, this sentence came into my head. This very specific sentence about my life and my church and my Ministry that was like time related to that very year. It just kept repeating in my head. Is this warmth flooded down to my toes? It wasn't something like the church conference had been talking about. It wasn't even a thought that I had ever thought in my whole life before. It just came out of nowhere as this odd sensation covered my body.
I remember ending my prayer and looking at my buddy next to me, like “You're not going to believe this.”
But a week passed and then a month. And then the end of the year, which was the timestamp of my thoughts. And guess what?
To this day, 10 years later. I have no clue what happened. I don't know what that feeling was or where it came from. I don't know where that that sentence or how we popped into my head or who spoke it, but I do know this. It was not from God.
God speaks. He always fulfills.
See, this is the tricky part about. “God told me he can.” But how do you know? Well, that's right. I just know it.
I did too, but I just really feel it. So, did George Whitfield.
It's in the Christian faith. Once something rock solid. It doesn't want the shifting sand of maybe it was God. It doesn't want to put its full words and trust and confidence in faith in something that might have come from above. No, your hearts to find peace and confidence for today. And tomorrow doesn't want something that might happen or might have come from Heaven. It was something that absolutely guaranteed came from the Heart Of God. And that's why I love love, love the thing I'm going to tell you next. I love you to write this down. Yep. God has spoken in many ways. But here's what. Also the Bible tells us. God promised to speak.
In one way. He promised he guaranteed it and you know, the way that God has promised to speak personally to you.
The book God has said that on every page from front to back from Genesis 12, the maps on the last page. God is speaking. You might have written your first and last name in it. But this word was inspired Page by page for people like me and like you. Here's my favorite passage to prove it. Second. Timothy chapter 3 says this. All scripture is god-breathed. And is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness. So that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. Some of you grew up memorizing that verse and whoever told you to memorize, it was a very smart person. There is so much truth. So much Beauty in this verse it, actually, for the rest of this message. I'm not even going to open up to any other page. I just want to talk about that because think about what God is saying to you. In these words. It says scripture is god-breathed. Scripture is just a fancy word. That means written things.
The script that actor gets her scribbling. It's something that's written down. Scripture is god-breathed. It's fancy way of saying. It came out of God, just like your breath comes out of you. If you want to know what's in God's mind in God's head or in God's heart. You don't have to guess he breathed it out. So that the authors of the Bible wrote it down. Not just that. But this passage says all scripture is god-breathed. Parents. This means that the Bible is not like your kids juice box. There was a juice box contains 10% real fruit. Well, it's not like that. It's not like ten percent real truth. Oh, I wonder if this page is from God or from that random guy, all scripture.
Every page, every chapter, every verse Moses might have wrote written it. Peter, Paul. Jude, James might have been the hands with the quill, but all scripture is actually coming from the heart of God. And therefore, I love this little line. All scripture is God-breathed and is useful. I have a hunch. That's why you came to church today. You wanted something useful. That's as useful for getting a couple questions, right? When Bible Jeopardy has that category right now. I want something useful for life.
I'm trying to figure out life. The deal with anxiety. I'm trying to I'm trying to grieve with hope. I'm trying to make a relationship work. I'm trying not to sabotage. I'm trying to make good decisions. I'm trying to get my way to heaven, the Bible. I love this. All scripture is useful. So useful. Like sometimes we miss it because it's not God whispering Mike to this. But if you spend enough time with this book, I I guarantee it will become the most useful tool for your life that you have ever had.
I know some of you here today are kind of new. And you just don't know what to know about the God of this book. What's he like? What does he do? Is he like you, is he disliked? You is except you to see condemn. You is he forgiving, is he loving this book is useful for teaching? It will teach you so much about God. Are you reading the headlines? You like? Well, what's going to happen to us? All, what's gonna happen to the Earth is climate change, going to kill us a zombie apocalypse. Another pandemic. You want to know how it all ends.
This book is useful. And if I can well, what's the, what's the purpose of my life? Is it just like maybe fall in love, have kids, go to work, pay the bills, try not to do anything terrible. And I multiply my here's some of your older you're thinking. Why am I still here? I think my best time is behind me. No. No, this book is so useful for teaching. This can teach you about, you is going to teach you about God. It's going to teach you about Grace. It's going to teach you about forgiveness or a thousand things that this book will teach you about how to do life God's way and how to end up with God for Eternal Light. The scripture is useful.
And I just for teaching all scripture is god-breathed and is useful for teaching. Rebuking, that means calling you out and correcting.
If this is the reason why some people don't love the Bible. Because it gets all up in your business. All right, it's very specific about what we should do with our words. How we should treat people at work, who annoy us. How we should speak about those in Authority, whether there are parents or pastors or our president?
It was useful to tell us how often we should forgive people who hurt us. What we should do with grudges, what we should think about gossip or alcohol or all of it, that the Bible will get up in your face and we'll say no. This good, that bad. Stop it because God is love and he wants what's best for you for the future. He won't, he won't play nice with sin. He called it out and say I don't care if it's a bachelor party. No, I don't care if she started it, stop it.
Before you train wreck this crazy cycle of bitterness. And he said this and she said that on this person at work, did it? The Bible is so useful for saving us from future drama. It's useful for teaching, rebuking, and correcting. And the passage says training in righteousness. I think of the Bible like a spiritual personal trainer to the gym after like ten years of not going to the gym, right? You give another, you even know how the machines work, but, you know, you need it. And so you get this personal trainer and you're dying, right? You think, I can't do this? I don't belong here. I'm not good enough. But what is a personal trainer do? They teach you. Encourage you. They guide you. They say it's okay. You're making progress. They keep you going on a good path to the future of the Bible is so like that. It trains you, you think you can't do it.
I need to deal with anxiety today. And you think, I just can't. I can't. I can't do this for another year. Yes, you can. The Bible says, God is faithful. He will help you. He got you through it last year. He's going to do it again. Some of you have just lost someone, you loved and you think Ike what's the point of living? If I don't have her in bed next to me? If I don't have him to help me with life, I can't do this you to spare. And the Bible like a compassionate personal trainers. I know you hurt.
God's done this billions of times before for billions of people, just like, you don't give up.
Some of you are working with someone are going to school with someone you like. I can't love them. I can't. They're absolutely unlovable and everyone knows it. And holy spirit's going to put a wing around your shoulder. And say, Ah, that's not true.
Jesus loved his enemies. And I can teach you to be like Jesus.
In so many ways. This book helps us figure out life and forgiveness and relationships. It's often challenging. It is rarely easy. It is frequently inspiring but I love this. All scripture is God-breathed. This is the guaranteed place where God wants to speak to you.
Last thing I want to say about this passage. Notice how it ends “Because all scripture is God-breathed” because it's so useful for 17 says, the servant of God. It's the followers of Jesus may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.
So if you want to know why I'm not a huge until I go whispering from the holy spirit that this passage is a huge part of my thinking. Its the scripture that I have in my hand thoroughly, equips me for every good work.
And I don't need anything else to do all the good works.
That makes sense. Like if the Bible equips me to do 80% of what God was calling me to do, and then I had to just kind of wait and feel and get some signer message for the other 20%. Okay. But it doesn't say that it says all the scripture is breathed out by God. So that if you know this book, if you've been taught and trained and corrected by it, you will be thoroughly equipped for every good work. There's nothing that God wants you to do that. You have to wait for him to reveal. God will tell you his plan for your life in the pages of this beautiful book, but he breathed up from his own heart.
So here's my summary, write this down. If you want God's will. I hope you do open God's Word.
If you want to rock solid foundation, you can trust and never have to wonder or doubts, open the book Because all scripture is god-breathed and is useful to equip you for every single good work. Now, I know what, 16 percent of your thinking?
You're thinking false. The Bible doesn't help me with all the stuff I want. I'm trying to figure out if I should just go to work after high school or go to college. What page is that on pastor? We've been dating for 18 months. He hasn't proposed yet. He doesn't want to talk about marriage. Should I find a new option or should I stick with him? I've an opportunity to get a new work. Start a new career. It's less money, but it seems like a better fit for me. Tell me in what verse of Genesis do I find the answer to that? Here's my beautiful Biblical answer to you. You won't. And you know why?
Because God doesn't care, which is so great.
I don't mean that God doesn't care about your life or your choices. I mean that God is so good that he is waiting at the end of either road. In fact, he will be with you as you take you the road. You don't have to pray. God, Give Me A Sign. Should I stay here in Wisconsin? Should I move to Chicago? Well, that was easy. Always stay in Wisconsin. Sorry about that. If you're watching in Chicago right now, you have to wonder like I'm gonna make the wrong choice and I'm going to be disobedient. I'm going to sin against God and he's only going to be here. So God tell me what to do. I don't know what to do. God says, I don't care.
With you, if I cared that much. I would have written a verse about it. So absorb my wisdom take in my teaching, make a decision, and I'll be with you. And when things are difficult, or there's more challenges than you thought, you don't have to wonder in the back of your head. Maybe I did the wrong thing. Maybe God was trying to give me a sign to you never have to think that you never have to wonder and live in doubts that he is somewhere that you can't get to. God gives you a clear path and he wrote it down so that you won't miss it or forget it.
And that's not party pooping on people's spiritual experiences. It's actually giving them a rock-solid foundation that leads to peace and leads to joy.
So, I'm not sure about this last thing I want to share with you today. But it makes sense to me. Maybe the reason God didn't spend half this book, like, writing me a page about my career. Or you a page about where you should live, is because he wanted to spend pretty much all of these pages talking about this.
I love this picture.
Do you want a quote from God that's directly for you? Do you want to word that comes from inside of his head and deep within his heart that's for you? The Bible will spend most of its pages telling you about this. About Jesus.
Well, you want to know God, am I good enough for you? Have I messed up, too bad. The Bible says, look at the cross. It's bad, but you might not be as bad as your cousin, your next door neighbor or those people. But if Jesus is dying on the cross, for your sins, your sins are bad. You need him. This was the price that had to be paid. The Bible would say, the wages of your sin is death. The soul who sins is the one who will die without Holiness, not trying your best without holiness. The book of Hebrews says, no one can see God. That's what God says. At the same time, he says,
And so, I'll fix it.
I will send my Son, my only Son, the one that I love to suffer on a cross to fix it. Woman of God, cares about you. Listen to the message of the cross. I don't know if you're forgiven for that thing. You did that year, you had that addiction. That struggle, That season, that thing, you can't seem to shake. Listen to the cross. You want to know if you believe in Jesus, right? Now? What God thinks about you. Is he for you? Is he against you? Does he like you? Does he love you at the cross? God is shouting. The Bible says I care. I love, I am merciful. I am forgiving. You are forgiven. You are clean. You are enough. You are washed. You are pure. You are strong. You are so loved. If you want God to speak to you, just put your name at the start of the passage, Mike. God so loved the world that he gave his only son. Whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. Alex, I know the plans I have for you. God says God is love. Rachel. Isaiah, he remembers your sins, no more. Jordan, I will never leave you. I'll never forsake you.
The thing I love about the Bible. Is it. God is speaking to me?
Random middle-aged dude. Living in the 2020s and medium-sized town Wisconsin. And I wake up in the morning and I open this book and it doesn't it doesn't shout but God, it's cool.
And he tells me, I'm forgiven for the stuff. I messed up and he tells me he'll never bail on me. And he says, that through his spirit, I can do all things. That's God, speaking to me. I don't need a dream. I got a book. And so, do you?
Some of you have heard my favorite story in the world. If so, let me tell you the end. There's once this youth, pastor who planned a really special night for the church's youth group. Pizza and video games and kids thinking on their phones. He decided something a little bit more serious, spiritual and biblical. So here's what he did. In the church basement, he set up a bunch of folding chairs in a big circle and put a note card on each chair, and I need to know card. He wrote a passage from the Bible, then in the center of the circle. He put a single chair with a blindfold waiting over the seat. The kids show up to the church basement. They're kind of confused. They wonder where the pizza is, and the pastor explains to them. Tonight's gonna be a little bit different. Here's what we're going to do. I want each of you to find a seat, on the edge of the circle. I want you to read the Bible passage. That's on that note card. And then I want one of you to volunteer to sit in the center.
Would you put the blindfold on and I'm asking you tonight, just be real.
What is good and life is bad, life is easy, life is often hard. So just just what's going on in life. Tell us really. What sins have you been struggling with recently? Really?
“It's an amazing idea.”, said none of the teenagers. 15 year old boy was going to put on a blindfold and stay in front of a girl that he likes the things he's struggling with. No one volunteers, the kids just sit there, awkwardly like they sometimes do until until one girl, the new girl raises her hand.
And she sits in the chair and she puts on the blindfold and then He comes out. The dysfunction of her family, the abuse of her father, the horrific argument that had happened. Right before the Bible study, started, the tears came fast in the words, Spilled Out in the students sat there shell-shocked. Until the pastor pointed. I want teenager look at his note card and he read, but God is love.
First John, chapter 4.
I have a girl push back in her motions, but family doesn't even love me. My father says, he doesn't even want me to come home today. Like, I don't know if I have to leave my family, after this Bible study is over.
Appointed to a kid in the back and the kid read. “but I will never leave you.” Hebrews 13. And back and forth. They went the girl confessing her problems and struggles, the kids reading from the note cards until the girl can handle it. Any longer. She took off the blindfold and with tear-stained eyes and cheeks. She looked at the pastor and she said, Pastor, why doesn't God speak to me like that? “
And the Pastor said, “Sweetie. He just did.”
Brothers and sisters. Every time you open the book.
He does, every time you read the verse and find message of forgiveness and hope and peace, God is. If you want to know God's will God's wants God's heart and God's love, you don't have to guess, you don't have to wait. Just open the book. Just open God's word.
Thank you so much for writing this down.
I have trouble remembering my dreams, 30 seconds after I wake up. If that was how you communicated with us. What a terrifying thought. Instead. You used this old form of communication, newspaper and parchment, use quill and ink, used prophets and apostles. So that here in so many ways on our phones on our bookshelves, on our night stands, there, you speak to us.
You speak tough words and you speak tender words, you call us out and you lead us to the Cross. God, you give us everything that we truly need as your children. And so I pray today heavenly father that we would be people of the book. We are people who read and see more words. I think than any humans in all of human history. And so if we're going to fill our hearts with that scripture, God, let us start with your scripture with the things that you have written down because all of the scriptures are God-breathed and are useful. So that we may be equipped for every good work.
As we reach a word, sanctify us set us apart from this confused world. Give us a kind of peace that goes beyond understanding and a joy that cannot be touched because we know that there is a God. And we know what that God thinks because we know that God speaks. It's in the name of your beautiful son, Jesus, the word that we pray and all God's people said, amen.
