GOD USES SMALL THINGS! Rain or No Rain (a blogpost for a sermon to be preached at Kenwood Church in Livonia, MI, on Jan. 31, 2016)

How often do we pawn off events around us as merely coincidence or natural occurrence that might be God?  Did a drought just start when the prophet proclaimed one would happen?  Did Elijah get lucky when he said it would end?  Was it God or mother nature?

Small clouds that bring downpours might just be the place to look for an answer.

So many Biblical stories contain strange references to events within the story that scream for a better answer.  Our story this week is one of those.  Why would God send the little cloud before the rainfall?  I believe the answer comes from the observable, laughable facts of the story.

God sent a great drenching rain, but it started with a little cloud.  Only then did the sky let forth its fury.  Black skies lead to strong rain; not nice little white, puffy clouds.  But . . . if God produces the cloud that's a whole different story.

Watch for little clouds that do things that they shouldn't.  It might just be God working.

GOD USES SMALL THINGS! A Tiny Cloud (a blogpost for a sermon to be preached at Kenwood Church in Livonia, MI, on Jan. 31, 2016)

It hadn't rained in 3 years and now the rains would fall.  The prophet told the king to prepare for a great downpour.  The sign would not be claps of thunder or lightning illuminating the sky.  The proof that God was bringing the rain was a tiny cloud.  Not until the cloud appeared did the sky blacken and drop the liquid of life.

Why does God send a small cloud ahead of the mighty storm?  Why does He send the baby before the miraculous messiah?  Why does He send the persecutor of the Church to reach the Gentiles?  Why does He send the boy to kill the giant?  Why does He send the backward apostles to introduce the world to the Kingdom?  Why does He?

Reminders.  We all need them sometime.

God can do anything.  The vessel He uses is never the point.  The still, small voice of God is still the voice of God.

GOD USES SMALL THINGS! The Still Small Voice (a blogpost for a sermon to be preached at Kenwood Church in Livonia, MI, on Jan. 31, 2016)

I find it interesting that God rarely yells.  I assume He could scream so loudly that we could not deny the voice.  I tend to get loud when I am trying to make a point.  God does not.

Often I find God's voice easy to overlook, easy to miss, easy to confuse, easy to deny.  Although I must be honest that when I hear it, it is unmistakably God.  

Why do we miss his voice then? 

GOD USES SMALL THINGS! Solutions (a blogpost for a sermon to be preached at Kenwood Church in Livonia, MI, on Jan. 24, 2016)

Why do we limit God's possible answers to our prayers and needs?  Why do we pigeon hole God into solutions that we can come up with?  Why do we paint God in a corner and tell Him to do what we think is best?  Why do we do that?

Pride . . .

We think we know better than the Creator of all things.  We believe we must have more insight than the One who can know our innermost thoughts.  We understand life's situations much better than the God who gave us life.  WE . . . ME

Why am I so surprised when God takes very little and makes it just enough?  Why am I unsettled when I don't know how I can stretch our money that far?  Why don't I trust?  Why don't I have faith?  Why?

GOD USES SMALL THINGS! Too Little (a blogpost for a sermon to be preached at Kenwood Church in Livonia, MI, on Jan. 24, 2016)

Too little . . . money, time, love, peace.  Too little ______________ (you fill in the blank).

How much is enough?  How much do you really need?  How much?

With God on your side, can you ever have too little of anything?  With God on your side, you will always have enough.  You may go hungry.  You many not be able to pay your bills.  You may not see how it is going to work out.  But, it will

God can do amazing things with very little.

GOD USES SMALL THINGS! A Handful of Flour and a Little Oil (a blogpost for a sermon to be preached at Kenwood Church in Livonia, MI, on Jan. 24, 2016)

As you and I face giants, we also must face ourselves.  Giants come to intimidate.  They stand before us and challenge us.  These monsters create fear.  They are overcome by trusting that God can overcome them.  It takes faith.

God also uses small things to challenge us.  Where big obstacles, like giants, make us question God's ability to overcome, insignificant things challenge us by forcing us to rely upon God and not our knowledge.  The miracle is God's way of substantiating Himself by showing his sovereignty over the smallest of things.

The widow of Zarephath had to trust that God could produce enough from too little.  It would take a miracle to accomplish such a task.  Do you trust that God can do a great deal with very little?

GOD USES SMALL THINGS! Facing the Giant (a blogpost for a sermon to be preached at Kenwood Church in Livonia, MI, on Jan. 17, 2016)

What giant is calling you out?  What issue is challenging your faith?  What monster has you quaking in your boots?

We need Davids.  People who are not afraid to stand up because they won't allow God's people to go on in cowardice.  We need people who wake up in the morning and ask what battles need to be won.  We need brave souls who sill not cower because God is with them.  We need little people to stand up against big foes.  We need weak soldiers to fight against strong oppressors.  We need kids with toy weapons to overcome the well armed murderers.

We need YOU1

GOD USES SMALL THINGS! The Bigger They Are . . . (a blogpost for a sermon to be preached at Kenwood Church in Livonia, MI, on Jan. 17, 2016)

I grew up with a giant dad.  My father is 6 foot 8 inches tall.  From an early age, I recognized that my dad was a very big man and this placed the Biblical story about David and Goliath in an interesting position in my mind.  Instead of diminishing the stature of the giant from Gath, the story became even more impressive.  Goliath stood 2 feet taller than my dad.  That seemed unreal.  My giant did not even measure up to David's.

The amazing thing about my did is that he is just a man, a very big man but just a man.  He is big and strong, but he is still human.  Goliath was as well.  He as really, really big, but he was still human, still vulnerable, and still defeatable.

The giants that stand before us in life are not unbeatable.  They are not all powerful.  They are not unstoppable.  They are not invincible.

As the young shepherd discovered, giants just make a louder sound when they hit the ground.

GOD USES SMALL THINGS! Five Small Stones (a blogpost for a sermon to be preached at Kenwood Church in Livonia, MI, on Jan. 17, 2016)

The stories of the Bible I loved the most as a kid were the ones where God did something unimaginable- walking on water, healing people, coming back from the dead.  My favorite ones told how somebody like me could do something amazing.  The best was David and Goliath.

I can remember making a sling and trying to learn to throw rocks right where I wanted.  I tried and I tried, but I never quite got the hang of it.  In my child's mind, I thought if I worked hard enough I could do it too.  My inner child forgot that God was with David, and I was just having fun.

The five smooth stones are not special.  They were normal stones from a stream.  The David and Goliath story is amazing because God used small things (5 stones and a young man) to take down a big giant.

God can take out your giants too!

GOD USES SMALL THINGS! Why does a jawbone seem so strange? (a blogpost for a sermon to be preached at Kenwood Church in Livonia, MI, on Jan. 10, 2016)

From the time I was a kid, I wondered why Samson picked up the jawbone of a donkey.  What particular meaning can be found in this object.  What prophetic nugget lies at the heart of the mystery.

I think I have finally figured out the mystery.  He grabbed it because it was there.

Perhaps the story is not so much about the object used to slay the Philistines but, rather, about the way that God uses whatever is available.  Moses' staff, Samson's jawbone.  Maybe the real story is not about what they used but the One who stood above what was used.  Just per chance the point revolves around the God of the stick and the donkey and not the servant who used what was provided.

GOD USES SMALL THINGS! A Donkey's Jawbone (a blogpost for a sermon to be preached at Kenwood Church in Livonia, MI, on Jan. 10, 2016)

A jawbone in the hand of God's servant can be a mighty weapon.

If you were to plan a strategy to free the children of Israel from the cruel hand of the Philistines, would you choose the jawbone of a donkey or perhaps a great military weapon or army or maybe anything else?  A jawbone just does not seem like the most probable choice.

Unless . . . the point would never be the weapon.  The focus of the victory would never be the analysis of the strategy taken.  The tool of the judge would never be the highlight of the story.

God can bring about amazing results from small things!