Dear Aliens,
Do you consider yourself to be an “alien?” I was chatting with a young man at 24 Hour Fitness recently and our conversation drifted into how the universe came into existence in the first place. I said to him, “Who made this iPhone?” His response was, “an alien.” Well, he did answer my question, but was it some alien by the name of Steve Jobs? The relentless drive and ingenuity of the many teams at Apple cannot be doubted. But there were hundreds of research breakthroughs and innovations without which the iPhone would not even be possible. Each was the result of countless researchers, universities, funders, governments, and private companies, layering one innovation on top of another.
We just completed our study in John 6 where Jesus states emphatically that He came down from heaven. He was from heaven, His message was from heaven, He was going back to heaven, and He promised His disciples that He was going to prepare for them in heaven. So, in one sense, we could say He was an alien as the word means coming from another world – extraterrestrial.
The NT makes it clear that we are aliens here on planet earth, so how are we to know how God wants us to live? The number one question that people have asked me over the years is, “How can I know God’s will for my life?” Many think it is like searching for a needle in a haystack. On the contrary, as God has made Himself and His will known to us finite creatures.
This Sunday we start chapter 7 in John and will be focusing on the first twenty-four verses. Jesus is going up to the “Feast of Tabernacles” where He is going to teach, and here, dear aliens, is one of the key verses: “If any man desires to do His will (God’s pleasure), he will know (have the needed illumination to recognize and can tell for himself) whether the teaching is from God or whether I am speaking from Myself and of My own accord and on My own authority.” John 7:17
My title is, “The Will of God as a Way of Life.” Hope to see you and invite someone. I invited two visitors last Sunday and they both showed up! I would also ask that you pray about our Men’s Breakfast tomorrow at 8 am, and you can still come as we accept aliens! I almost forgot to mention that our worship time will lead us into communion! We will not literally “eat His flesh or drink His blood” but we will celebrate!
Because He works all things after the counsel of His will,
Glen