Connection Questions

September 1, 2017

Make Room for a Miracle


Some people don’t understand our passion when we worship God with such enthusiasm and abandon. They don’t understand people shouting and people clapping and people praising. But you need to understand this is not just some pre-written play where we are all just acting out our parts. That’s not all this life is. I know God is sovereign; I understand that theology. But the truth is there’s a reason why in every one of these occasions we have to worship and shout out to our God. Just like in Mark 6:48 when Jesus was just “passing by,” passing through, and he could have just passed them by …

 

But they all did something.

 

They cried out in desperation, and Jesus changed what He was doing and where He was going, because somebody did more than just let Him pass by. It was their desperation that caught the Master’s attention and provided an access they had never known. When you worship God in spirit AND in truth—with abandon and everything you have—you catch His attention. In those moments, there is extraordinary access … don’t miss it.

 

What makes Him stop and take notice? It’s our faith. It’s our honesty. It’s getting real with God. It’s doing more than playing church. It’s doing more than watching the river. People may be all around or even in a crowded place. You can stop Jesus from just passing by. That’s why we worship. Some people call this energy. This isn’t energy. This is the Holy Ghost. This is the power of the Holy Spirit. This is worship. This is praise. This is calling on the name of Jesus, because we’re desperate to stop Him from passing us by … like Zacchaeus, like blind Bartimaeus.

 

Connection Questions

  1. Describe the last time you truly felt the presence of the Holy Spirit.
  2. Scripture talks about the Holy Spirit falling on people, filling people, resting on people. Do you desire an experience where you literally feel the presence of the Holy Spirit? And if you have had that experience, do you desire it more and more? Do you have an expectation or a hope that the Lord will fill you again and again?
  3. Do you sometimes feel that although saved, there is a distance between you and God? What do you think causes this distance?
  4. What is a lesson you have learned from this message that can create a moment of access and a special nearness to God?
  5. Be honest on this one: What do you think when you see someone really going after God in a worship service, seeming like they have no care for what anyone else thinks?
  6. Take a moment to imagine yourself unafraid and in abandon … just going after God in worship. Can you see that?

 

Conclusion

Apparently, according to the scriptures in Mark chapter 6, it’s possible for God to pass by and it not benefit us if we don’t make room for His presence. The Bible opens by telling us something about the Spirit of God and the Holy Spirit. Early in the book of Genesis, it says, “And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.” Notice that the Spirit of God is moving. The Holy Spirit is always moving. He’s not a stagnant pool. The Holy Spirit is not a pond. He’s not a swamp. He’s likened in the scriptures as a river that’s constantly moving.

 

The river is moving, which means in that river, the power, the provision, the promises of God are passing by and you and I are supposed to get in contact with that river. Don’t just let it pass you by. You will receive exactly what your faith reaches out for because it’s passing by. It’s not an issue of whether or not He’s here. The question is will it do you any good. And we have the power to stop the passing by, to make Him stand still.

 

Key Scriptures

Deuteronomy 8:18; Genesis 1:2; Joshua 10:12-13; II Kings 4:9-11, 32-35; Psalms 22:3; Mark 6:40, 10:46-48; Luke 18:35-39, 19:1-4; Romans 3:23; II Corinthians 5:17

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