There’s More
Speaker: Pastor Don Maddox | May begins a schedule of activities such as mothers day, church homecomings, family reunions, memorial day, fathers day, and 4th of July.
Times when we honor and celebrate those who have made a difference in our lives. Time when we say thank you for people who fought and died for our freedom. Time when we say thank you to those who imparted into our lives and helped make us who we are today.
The one thing I love about family reunions and church homecomings is to get to eat that special dish that someone in your family makes. The best news that you will hear after finishing that plate of the best tasting food you have ever eaten, is that there is more.
I recently saw a commercial of an insurance company where the new client is celebrating that he got more since switching. More muscles in one commercial and bigger lawn mowers in the other ad.
The one thing that we all have in common is that we want more. The reason I’m as big as I am today is that I always want more.
We want more…More material things, more money, more pleasure, more power, more control, we all want more.
Wanting more is not a bad thing…..We just need to know where to go when we want more….. There is an endless supply to more Ephesians 3:20-21 now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us. 21. To him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.
It’s amazing how often we forget that God is the one who is able to give us more. We need to be reminded where to go for the more we want in our lives.
Proverbs 3:1-2 my son, do not forget my teaching, but keep my commands in your heart, 2. For they will prolong your life many years and bring you peace and prosperity.
There is always more……There are two kinds of more….There is God’s more and there is the world’s more…
The world tells us that we need more…. You need to update your possessions….
Flat screen tv….. To curved screen tv 42″ to 72″ phone that talk & text…… To a phone that recognizes your face 2016 automobile is not enough….We need a 2018 The world is always telling us we need more…..But the world is always offering more and giving us less.
On the outside you look like you have it all together, but, on the inside you are starving for more…Why? Because the world cannot give you what you are longing for.
You may be here this morning and your life consists of the same ole routine everyday….And you want to know if there is more You may be a parent with a child that is wondering out in the world, doing things you don’t want them doing and you want to know if there is more You may be experiencing some physical condition that has changed your life and you sit daily wanting to know if this is the way it’s always going to be or if there is more..
You may be in a relationship that is not meeting your needs and you wonder if there is more for you…..
You may be a lifelong church attendee and you are sitting each Sunday wondering if there is more for your life…
So many people never experience more for their life because of these reasons….
1. You settle for typical
We all see people who have things we would love to have, but we tell ourselves we can never obtain them
We see people who have reached a position we want to reach, but we tell ourselves we will never be able to reach it
We see people worship, serving, witnessing for God and we want to be able to do those things, but we tell ourselves we can’t reach that level.
John 10:10 the thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.
You don’t have to settle for typical….You don’t have to just exist day to day……There is more
2. We give into our fears
Satan is always whispering in our ear, telling us that this is all there is in life. Telling us that God doesn’t care about what you are going through. Telling us that living day to day is all there is for us to experience.
Sometimes we need to remind satan that he couldn’t serve God in heaven where everything was perfect…..And you are serving God in a world where everything is fighting against you, Romans 8:37 no, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us
3. You think you have disqualified yourself.
I can’t have more because I have done to many things wrong…. I am too dirty for God to use…. I have too many skeletons in my closet for God to use…. I’ve burned too many bridges in my life, that I am not sure that God would ever be able to give me more.
Some of you may have been coming to church for a long time and you are empty inside…..I can’t ask for more… Someone might see me for what I am instead of what they think I am.
No greater peer pressure that adult peer pressure…Conceal what is on the inside….Not reveal our true identity…. Pressure beyond measuring….What would people think if they knew what I have done, what I think, who I really am… Peer pressure You can have more!! There is more for you!! Here are three ways for you to find more for you life, more reason to get up in the morning, more desire to get move forward from where you are right now…
1. You have to look to God.
You can’t solve a godly problem with an earthly solution!
You can’t satisfy a godly want with an earthly supply!
More only comes from God….It has always come from God and it will always come from God..
Lamentations 3:25 the lord is good to those whose hope is in him.
Find you a church where people care about you….Surround yourself with friends who want to see you become more. Find a Sunday school class or a small group where people will pour into your life.
You don’t have to have it all together to receive more from God…. You just have to stop looking to the world….Stop chasing false hopes and dreams and look to God for more in your life…. You have to look at God…
2. You have to connect to your purpose
Stop trying to live your life through other people and following other people’s dreams or plans for your life.
As a young minister, I used to listen to a message during the week and to preach it on Sunday… One Sunday I would be Rex Lumbard, one week I would be T.D. Jakes, one week I would be billy graham, one week I would be John Hagee, one week I would be Jerry Falwell….
I wanted more….I wanted to be more…. I never found more until I connected to the purpose God had for my life and decided to stop trying to find it through other people.
1 peter 1:4 and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you.
God has chosen you personally to run this leg of the marathon of life for him. He has chosen you to be salt and light. There is more to life when you connect to your purpose.
Faye Newesome…Telling people you are special. God loves you!
Ray Guthrie stocking potato chips and sharing the good news of salvation with others, there is more to life than where you are.
Brandon Tuck telling teenagers and children that there is more in life than what this world has offered you.
Jeri Smith… Leading a prayer group and telling them there is more to life than where you are right now.
Justin Pate singing songs of praise and worship and letting people know there is hope for their life.
Connect to God and you can connect to your purpose. Then and only then will you find more to life.
When people talk about remembering 9-11 they think about 2001 and the horrible attacks we faced from our enemies.
When I think about 9-11 I think about 1973 when I knelt in an altar on a Tuesday morning all by myself and said God I want more. I want what you want for my life. I found purpose for my life.
3. Learn to give it away
In order for you to have more, you have to be willing to give what you have away…. You have to be willing to share with others, the blessings God has blessed you with.
Deuteronomy 16:17 each of you must bring a gift in proportion to the way the lord your God has blessed you.
God never asks us to give unless he first gives to you… In fact, if it didn’t come from God it is not worth sharing with others!
Musicians come up……
Each of you have a unique story….God asks you to share that story with others. You have a personal experience that others have not had, God asks that you share that with others.
You can only give away what God has allowed you to obtain. There is a reason for the experiences in your life…Whether you liked them or not…. God wanted you to be able to share with others during their time of problems… To tell them that God is the answer to whatever is wrong in their lives.
How many have had God work a miracle in your health?
In your job? In your marriage? In your children?
In your finances? In your church? In your spiritual life?
God asks you to give it away….Be salt and light!! Lift up one another and help bare one another’s burdens.
Stand with me….. Do you want more!!
Stop settling for typical…..Stop doing the same thing and expecting a different result.
Stop giving into your fears…. Stop listening to the devil’s lies and staying in the same ole rut
Stop looking at who you are right now….Start seeing yourself for who God wants you to become.
God is the answer and God is the supply for your more!
God has a purpose for your life!
God wants you to tell others what he has done for you!
Closing…..
Pray this prayer with me….. God I thank you for loving me. Thank you for caring about my life. Thank you that nothing is hide from you. You know me. You see me right now. You know the thoughts I am thinking. I want more from you God. I want to experience life like you want me to experience life. I want to walk in your presence everyday. I want to feel you close by my side. I want more of you than I have ever experienced. I want to be able to share with others what you have done in my life. That is my prayer, that is my desire, I want more of you God…I want more…
Praise offering….God we love you!!!
Baptism this morning…Several children and young people have decided they want more for their life today. Our student and children’s pastor, Brandon Tuck is going to baptizing several candidates today… Everyone who is going to be baptized, go through this door and someone will meet you and direct you.
You will never experience life to the fullest until you experience God’s more!!
Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. 12. Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. 13. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.