This week we kicked off the fall with a Cruise-In Car Show. We had a great time playing games, eating food, and looking at cool cars. We also started a new sermon series on prayer called "Cruisin with Christ: Vehicles of Payer." This week we compared the effects of the automobile to the effects of prayer on people's lives. To listen to the audio follow the link or read the text below.
“Cruisin’ with Christ”
Brimfield Faith UMC / September 12, 2010
Matthew 7:7-11
THE AUTOMOBILE
Today is our Fall Kickoff and we are celebrating with a “Cruise-In for Christ.” Since we are going to be looking at a variety of vehicles in a few minutes, I thought we’d spend a few minutes talking about them. With the influence of the automobile on American society, it is hard to believe the automobile has only been around for about one hundred years. In those one hundred years we have seen significant changes in society as a result of the automobile. To appreciate the influence, I thought I’d share a short history.
The word automobile literally means “self – movable.” An automobile is generally defined as a wheeled vehicle that carries its own motor and transports passengers. The first version of the automobile was made by a Frenchman who converted a military tractor in 1769. The automobile made significant strides forward with the creation of the internal combustion engine. Then in the 1880’s, Karl Benz and Henry Ford created the first true automobiles.
The automobile’s influence took hold in the 1920’s when Henry Ford began to mass produce an affordable car in the Model T. When cars became accessible to the general public, there were substantial changes to the American way of life. Prior to the invention of the car, the primary mode of transportation was the horse. Horses were slow, required daily care, and created sanitation problems. This kept people close to their places of employment and limited mobility. With the popularization of the automobile, it gave people a new sense of personal freedom. They were able to travel longer distances in a shorter amount of time. This enabled them to move out of the industrial cities that they were working in and it led to the creation of the suburb. Cars increased efficiency, made labor easier, and created countless numbers of jobs. Emergency services like the police and fire began using cars which reduced response times and helped save countless lives.
Today, we have access to numerous types of vehicles that are used for a variety of tasks and jobs. Without motorized vehicles, the American way of life would look extremely different. Our lives are structured in such a way that we are entirely dependent on the automobile. Unless you are Amish, it is hard to imagine a world without cars in it. I am talking about cars this morning because I think they can help us to understand prayer. As people of faith, prayer is the vehicle that transports closer to God. Two of the defining characteristics of cars are they are geared for the individual and they are powerful. I want to explore these two aspects of prayer this morning as well.
PERSONAL PRAYER
#1. Like modes of transportation, prayer hasn’t always been personal.
The automobile revolutionized society in a number of ways. The automobile gives the individual more personal freedom than ever before. Previous to the car, personal transportation was limited to horses and walking. Even today, the automobile allows people to set their own schedules. We aren’t reliant upon trains and bus schedules. Before the car, travel was extremely restricted, and difficult.
The conception of prayer and our personal access to God has change throughout the course of history as well. If we look in Scripture, God wasn’t accessible to everyone on an everyday basis. In the Old Testament, God’s holy presence resided in the tabernacle and was only accessible to the priests. It was then the priest’s responsibility to offer a sacrifice on behalf of the people. The people feared God and didn’t want to communicate directly with God. In the Catholic tradition, this practice is continued to an extent today through the sacrament of confession. It wasn’t until the New Testament and Jesus’ teachings that the understanding of prayer shifted.
Jesus transformed prayer into a vehicle to relationship with God. Many of us have funny thoughts and ideas about prayer. We get caught up in unanswered prayers or praying out loud or something else. At the end of the day, Jesus teaches that prayer is a conversation with God. And like a conversation with a close friend there isn’t a right or wrong way to do it. Instead, Jesus taught we didn’t need to pray in certain ways or at certain places. In fact he criticized the Pharisees for their ‘religious’ prayers on the street corner. Prayer for Jesus is about a personal relationship with a loving God. Jesus broke down the barriers that kept us from being in God’s present. He paved the way for us to “approach the throne of grace with boldness…” Prayer, then, is the primary way by which believers encountered the presence of God.
In Matthew 7:7, we hear Jesus teaching about prayer. “Ask, and it will be given you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you. 8 For everyone who asks receives, and everyone who searches finds, and for everyone who knocks, the door will be opened.” Notice the progression within the exhortation. We are called closer and closer into the presence of God. First we ask for God. Then we go searching for God. Finally, we find God and we knock at the door. Each time God responds to our pursuit and beckons us to come closer. Prayer is less about asking and receiving and more about drawing closer to God. God wants to know us and us to know him.
#1A. Like the automobile, prayer can transform lives.
As we move closer to God in prayer it leads to our lives being transformed. Consider the impact of the automobile on people’s lives. Before cars, workers lived in the city close to the dirty factories that they worked in. Their neighborhoods were cramped, dirty and often crime ridden. Cars enabled city workers to move away from the pollution and filth of the manufacturing environment. Communities were formed just outside the cities that were cleaner, safer, and had a higher standard of living. Suburbs came into being as a result of cars increasing mobility. Now a worker could earn a good wage but their standard of living in the suburbs was increased. In short, cars helped to transform the lives thousands of workers.
Prayer works in a similar way. We gain access to the one who created us and is the source of life. Prayer gives the believer 24-7 access to God in a way that improves the quality of a person’s life. It enables us to live in the world but not be of the world. Through prayer, we are changed into the likeness of God. Through that transformation, we discover the freedom that we crave. Personal prayer with God frees us to live as God’s has called us to live. We are free to discover the abundant life. We are free to discover the fruits of the Spirit. In God, we are free from sin and death. In God we are free to serve him, love him and to be co-laborers for the kingdom of God. This brings us to our second aspect of prayer: prayer is powerful.
POWERFUL PRAYER
Like emergency vehicles, prayer has to power to save lives.
We all know that automobiles are fast and powerful. They encourages efficiency. Even the slowest car is faster than a horse or person. Because of this police and fire departments have been using them since virtually their invention. The automobile reduces emergency response time, which has helped save millions of lives. The power and efficiency of the automobile continues to save lives every day.
Prayer holds a certain power and efficiency that brings us closer to God. That closeness enables us to cry out to the Lord for salvation. In Romans 10:13 we are told, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.” Prayer is the vehicle that brings us into a saving relationship with God. Prayer enables us to harness God’s power to bring help into difficult situations. Prayer is powerful because we simply have to ask. We don’t have to worry about what exactly we pray.
We can simply cry out in times of need and the Lord will answer. Consider Psalm 118:5, “In my distress I prayed to the Lord, and the Lord answered me and set me free.” Romans 8:26 teaches, “Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words.” Prayer is powerful because God hears our prayers and does not delay in responding to our need. We can always cry out to the Lord and know that his saving power is close at hand. God’s power saves us so that we might partner with him in the world. This brings us to our final idea about powerful prayer.
Prayer empowers us to partner with God in the world.
The speed of the automobile has enabled society to be more efficient. We can do things that people once only dreamed of. The emergence of cars greatly increased the possibilities of human beings. What was once a day’s journey by horseback can now be made in an afternoon. Cars enable us to travel further and faster than we once were able to imagine. That speed and efficiency enable us to transport produce and products that were once impossible.
Prayer also empowers us to do things otherwise impossible. Prayer brings us into partnership with God. God, then, empowers us to do incredible things in his name. The Scriptures teach us that nothing is impossible with God. Prayer empowers us to push back the gates of hell. It empowers us to heal the sick, cast out demons, and perform miracles. In our own power, none of these things are possible, but when we connect with God in prayer, all things are possible. Over the next few weeks, we’ll be discovering the different things that God can empower us to do.
DRIVER’S EDUCATION
As we wrap up this morning, it is important to remember that prayer starts and ends as conversation with God. It is through those personal conversations that he empowers us to partner with him in the world. While there is no right or wrong way to prayer, we can improve the effectiveness of our prayer lives. We can learn to utilize certain types of prayer for our’s and other’s benefit. Like learning to drive, prayer requires practice and training. We don’t become experts in prayer overnight. Once we get comfortable driving one kind of car, it may take time learning to drive another kind. Nonetheless, we need learn to drive the vehicles of prayer because they bring us closer to God. People are often afraid to pray out loud or about certain things. The reality is that we won’t become more comfortable with prayer until we do it. We just need to get behind the wheel and try out the vehicle. God’s grace will guide us towards him regardless. It’s like the Cedar Point ride where you simply follow the track. You might hit the guide rail once in awhile but God will keep you on the right path. Eventually, you’ll be ready to hit the race track and to harness the full power of prayer.
We need to energize our spiritual lives by tapping into the personal, power of prayer. Prayer is a gift and an opportunity to discover the abundance God has for each of us. Over the next several weeks we’ll look at several different types of prayer through the lens of different types of vehicles. We’ll look at the pickup trucks, vans, motorcycles and ambulances as we learn how prayer transports us and others in various ways. God has given us the keys to the kingdom of God. It is our job to learn how to drive them.
Practice prayer this week. Personal prayer. Powerful prayer.
Brimfield Faith UMC / September 12, 2010
Matthew 7:7-11
THE AUTOMOBILE
Today is our Fall Kickoff and we are celebrating with a “Cruise-In for Christ.” Since we are going to be looking at a variety of vehicles in a few minutes, I thought we’d spend a few minutes talking about them. With the influence of the automobile on American society, it is hard to believe the automobile has only been around for about one hundred years. In those one hundred years we have seen significant changes in society as a result of the automobile. To appreciate the influence, I thought I’d share a short history.
The word automobile literally means “self – movable.” An automobile is generally defined as a wheeled vehicle that carries its own motor and transports passengers. The first version of the automobile was made by a Frenchman who converted a military tractor in 1769. The automobile made significant strides forward with the creation of the internal combustion engine. Then in the 1880’s, Karl Benz and Henry Ford created the first true automobiles.
The automobile’s influence took hold in the 1920’s when Henry Ford began to mass produce an affordable car in the Model T. When cars became accessible to the general public, there were substantial changes to the American way of life. Prior to the invention of the car, the primary mode of transportation was the horse. Horses were slow, required daily care, and created sanitation problems. This kept people close to their places of employment and limited mobility. With the popularization of the automobile, it gave people a new sense of personal freedom. They were able to travel longer distances in a shorter amount of time. This enabled them to move out of the industrial cities that they were working in and it led to the creation of the suburb. Cars increased efficiency, made labor easier, and created countless numbers of jobs. Emergency services like the police and fire began using cars which reduced response times and helped save countless lives.
Today, we have access to numerous types of vehicles that are used for a variety of tasks and jobs. Without motorized vehicles, the American way of life would look extremely different. Our lives are structured in such a way that we are entirely dependent on the automobile. Unless you are Amish, it is hard to imagine a world without cars in it. I am talking about cars this morning because I think they can help us to understand prayer. As people of faith, prayer is the vehicle that transports closer to God. Two of the defining characteristics of cars are they are geared for the individual and they are powerful. I want to explore these two aspects of prayer this morning as well.
PERSONAL PRAYER
#1. Like modes of transportation, prayer hasn’t always been personal.
The automobile revolutionized society in a number of ways. The automobile gives the individual more personal freedom than ever before. Previous to the car, personal transportation was limited to horses and walking. Even today, the automobile allows people to set their own schedules. We aren’t reliant upon trains and bus schedules. Before the car, travel was extremely restricted, and difficult.
The conception of prayer and our personal access to God has change throughout the course of history as well. If we look in Scripture, God wasn’t accessible to everyone on an everyday basis. In the Old Testament, God’s holy presence resided in the tabernacle and was only accessible to the priests. It was then the priest’s responsibility to offer a sacrifice on behalf of the people. The people feared God and didn’t want to communicate directly with God. In the Catholic tradition, this practice is continued to an extent today through the sacrament of confession. It wasn’t until the New Testament and Jesus’ teachings that the understanding of prayer shifted.
Jesus transformed prayer into a vehicle to relationship with God. Many of us have funny thoughts and ideas about prayer. We get caught up in unanswered prayers or praying out loud or something else. At the end of the day, Jesus teaches that prayer is a conversation with God. And like a conversation with a close friend there isn’t a right or wrong way to do it. Instead, Jesus taught we didn’t need to pray in certain ways or at certain places. In fact he criticized the Pharisees for their ‘religious’ prayers on the street corner. Prayer for Jesus is about a personal relationship with a loving God. Jesus broke down the barriers that kept us from being in God’s present. He paved the way for us to “approach the throne of grace with boldness…” Prayer, then, is the primary way by which believers encountered the presence of God.
In Matthew 7:7, we hear Jesus teaching about prayer. “Ask, and it will be given you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you. 8 For everyone who asks receives, and everyone who searches finds, and for everyone who knocks, the door will be opened.” Notice the progression within the exhortation. We are called closer and closer into the presence of God. First we ask for God. Then we go searching for God. Finally, we find God and we knock at the door. Each time God responds to our pursuit and beckons us to come closer. Prayer is less about asking and receiving and more about drawing closer to God. God wants to know us and us to know him.
#1A. Like the automobile, prayer can transform lives.
As we move closer to God in prayer it leads to our lives being transformed. Consider the impact of the automobile on people’s lives. Before cars, workers lived in the city close to the dirty factories that they worked in. Their neighborhoods were cramped, dirty and often crime ridden. Cars enabled city workers to move away from the pollution and filth of the manufacturing environment. Communities were formed just outside the cities that were cleaner, safer, and had a higher standard of living. Suburbs came into being as a result of cars increasing mobility. Now a worker could earn a good wage but their standard of living in the suburbs was increased. In short, cars helped to transform the lives thousands of workers.
Prayer works in a similar way. We gain access to the one who created us and is the source of life. Prayer gives the believer 24-7 access to God in a way that improves the quality of a person’s life. It enables us to live in the world but not be of the world. Through prayer, we are changed into the likeness of God. Through that transformation, we discover the freedom that we crave. Personal prayer with God frees us to live as God’s has called us to live. We are free to discover the abundant life. We are free to discover the fruits of the Spirit. In God, we are free from sin and death. In God we are free to serve him, love him and to be co-laborers for the kingdom of God. This brings us to our second aspect of prayer: prayer is powerful.
POWERFUL PRAYER
Like emergency vehicles, prayer has to power to save lives.
We all know that automobiles are fast and powerful. They encourages efficiency. Even the slowest car is faster than a horse or person. Because of this police and fire departments have been using them since virtually their invention. The automobile reduces emergency response time, which has helped save millions of lives. The power and efficiency of the automobile continues to save lives every day.
Prayer holds a certain power and efficiency that brings us closer to God. That closeness enables us to cry out to the Lord for salvation. In Romans 10:13 we are told, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.” Prayer is the vehicle that brings us into a saving relationship with God. Prayer enables us to harness God’s power to bring help into difficult situations. Prayer is powerful because we simply have to ask. We don’t have to worry about what exactly we pray.
We can simply cry out in times of need and the Lord will answer. Consider Psalm 118:5, “In my distress I prayed to the Lord, and the Lord answered me and set me free.” Romans 8:26 teaches, “Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words.” Prayer is powerful because God hears our prayers and does not delay in responding to our need. We can always cry out to the Lord and know that his saving power is close at hand. God’s power saves us so that we might partner with him in the world. This brings us to our final idea about powerful prayer.
Prayer empowers us to partner with God in the world.
The speed of the automobile has enabled society to be more efficient. We can do things that people once only dreamed of. The emergence of cars greatly increased the possibilities of human beings. What was once a day’s journey by horseback can now be made in an afternoon. Cars enable us to travel further and faster than we once were able to imagine. That speed and efficiency enable us to transport produce and products that were once impossible.
Prayer also empowers us to do things otherwise impossible. Prayer brings us into partnership with God. God, then, empowers us to do incredible things in his name. The Scriptures teach us that nothing is impossible with God. Prayer empowers us to push back the gates of hell. It empowers us to heal the sick, cast out demons, and perform miracles. In our own power, none of these things are possible, but when we connect with God in prayer, all things are possible. Over the next few weeks, we’ll be discovering the different things that God can empower us to do.
DRIVER’S EDUCATION
As we wrap up this morning, it is important to remember that prayer starts and ends as conversation with God. It is through those personal conversations that he empowers us to partner with him in the world. While there is no right or wrong way to prayer, we can improve the effectiveness of our prayer lives. We can learn to utilize certain types of prayer for our’s and other’s benefit. Like learning to drive, prayer requires practice and training. We don’t become experts in prayer overnight. Once we get comfortable driving one kind of car, it may take time learning to drive another kind. Nonetheless, we need learn to drive the vehicles of prayer because they bring us closer to God. People are often afraid to pray out loud or about certain things. The reality is that we won’t become more comfortable with prayer until we do it. We just need to get behind the wheel and try out the vehicle. God’s grace will guide us towards him regardless. It’s like the Cedar Point ride where you simply follow the track. You might hit the guide rail once in awhile but God will keep you on the right path. Eventually, you’ll be ready to hit the race track and to harness the full power of prayer.
We need to energize our spiritual lives by tapping into the personal, power of prayer. Prayer is a gift and an opportunity to discover the abundance God has for each of us. Over the next several weeks we’ll look at several different types of prayer through the lens of different types of vehicles. We’ll look at the pickup trucks, vans, motorcycles and ambulances as we learn how prayer transports us and others in various ways. God has given us the keys to the kingdom of God. It is our job to learn how to drive them.
Practice prayer this week. Personal prayer. Powerful prayer.
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