And Jesus, walking by the Sea of Galilee, saw two brothers, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen. Then He said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.” They immediately left their nets and followed Him. Going on from there, He saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets. He called them, and immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed Him. - Matthew 4:18-22.
What do you think of when you hear the words “break out?” Some might think of a “break out” sports star that has an unusually great game or games. Some might think of a person who “breaks out” of jail or prison by escaping. Some may think of a “break out” financial move that gives someone a financial windfall. It could be that one of those “break outs” will change a person’s life for good - perhaps for good or possibly for bad.
There is one thing, however, that is guaranteed to change your life for the good. That one thing is a spiritual “break out.” That day long ago when Jesus walked along the shore of the Sea of Galilee He called out to some of the fishermen there and it changed their lives forever. Peter, Andrew, James and John would never be the same after their encounter with the Lord. Those four men left their lifelong careers that they thought they would always pursue and in a moment of time became not fishers of fish but instead “fishers of men.”
Peter, Andrew, James and John are not the only ones to experience a spiritual “break out.” We know seven other men sincerely responded to the Lord’s call in becoming His disciples, as have countless others in the centuries to follow. Think of the woman at the well (John 4) who was just having a normal day until she had a conversation with the Master of the Universe and was forced to think outside of the box of her little world. Once she had experienced the “break out”, she cared little what anyone might have thought of her as she told everyone about the Lord. The man from Gadara (Mark 5) released from demonic oppression “broke out” of his enslavement to freedom in the Lord’s service.
What did most of these people have in common? They were willing to listen to what the Lord had to say and they responded. Only the woman at the well even attempted to engage in a verbal exchange of spiritual ideas. When they encountered the Truth, they recognized that this One was radically different. The result was a “break out” from everything they had known in the past. Their lives and their worlds were enlarged beyond their wildest dreams and imaginations.
Would you like to experience a spiritual “break out?” You can “break out” if your heart is willing to respond when you hear the Lord’s Voice calling. If God were to speak to your heart right now calling you into a larger world and experience than you have ever known before - would you be ready to respond? Would you leave your “nets” and go without looking back? Or, would you argue, debate, and procrastinate until it was too late. Make no mistake. If you have a willing and listening heart, someday Jesus will be walking your way and you too will “break out” spiritually.
It is written, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.” - Matthew 4:4.
All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work. - 2 Timothy 3:16-17.
So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. - Romans 10:17.
For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. - Hebrews 4:12.
Dr. Oscar Lowry at one time thought that he could not memorize Scripture. However, he reached a point where he believed he had to try to memorize and he thought, “If I can memorize one verse, I can memorize one more, and ten more, and even one hundred.” He started with what he thought was a difficult passage, Romans 10:9-10. Within half an hour, he was able to memorize it. The next day he reviewed the passage several times and then added a new verse. He kept on do this - reviewing those verses he had memorized each day and adding new ones. By the time Dr. Lowry passed from this life to the next, he had memorized 20,000 verses. As a result, Oscar Lowry experienced great success in evangelism and lived a joy-filled life. Scripture memorization facilitated Dr. Lowry’s spiritual breakout (Dr. Lowry led the 1938 Evangelistic Campaign by Radio and he wrote “Scripture Memorizing for Successful Soul-winning“.).
The apostle Paul while still the persecuting Saul experienced a spiritual breakout on the road to Damascus. He was stopped in his tracks by the risen Lord Jesus. When Saul came to an understanding of whom he had been persecuting he wanted to stop and he experienced a spiritual breakout. Saul could never have changed without having the necessary background and training necessary to understand and then proceed with the call given to Him by God. He was perhaps the most highly educated of the early Christians and had large portions of the Old Testament memorized as evidenced by his writings. Even though Saul had been on the wrong side until the encounter on the road to Damascus, he was still a prepared man waiting for the move of God, which eventually came. You can see the high regard the apostle has for Scripture with 2 Timothy 3:16-17 and Romans 10:17. God’s Word was necessary for Paul to have a spiritual breakout. God’s Word is necessary for whoever would breakout spiritually.
Everyone can memorize Scripture it just depends on whether you want to expend the energy and time necessary to do it. However, if you want to facilitate a spiritual breakout in your life you need to memorize Scripture and do so on a continuing basis (The Navigators http://home.navigators.org have excellent memory resources available.).
Now in the morning, having risen a long while before daylight, He went out and departed to a solitary place; and there He prayed. - Mark 1:35.
I am not sure when I first heard the term “quiet time” used in reference to spending time alone with God in prayer and reading of His Word. I have heard other terms used such as doing your “devotions” or simply spending time alone with God. We have talked about how important God’s Word and prayer are to having a “spiritual break out.” Now we need to put the two of them together and Jesus gives us a wonderful example of this. Jesus who is the living “Word of God” goes to a “solitary place” where He prays. Jesus who was and is the “Word of God” also needed to pray. We need to do the same.
My first quiet times were accomplished with the reading of a devotional booklet along with prayer. Some of those earliest quiet times were only a few minutes in length but still God was able to speak to me during those times. As I grew consistent in my quiet times I was amazed at how God seemed to have written devotionals just for my circumstances on the day that I read them. Sometimes I would make a mistake and read the wrong devotional for the day and after reading it discover it was exactly what I needed at that time. It had not been a mistake after all but the hand of God directing me.
Before I heard and knew beyond any doubt God’s call upon my life, I was engaged in an intensive Bible study, which included a regular and lengthy morning quiet time. I had been engaged this regular, consistent, lengthy time with God for many months and I had began praying, and writing out those prayers concerning His call for my life. The morning God spoke to me and changed my life was a morning like so many others - I was not expecting God to speak in a dramatic way. However, God did speak using a passage of Scripture, which in the course of time I had come to in my regular reading along with a devotional that was precisely concerning what I needed to hear. God in that quiet time spoke in a way leaving no doubt about His call upon my life and I was then able to communicate that call to my wife and others.
Without a regular and consistent quiet time I believe I would still be wondering about God’s call on my life. Was He calling me or not calling me? Without a quiet time I would never have had the courage to share God’s call with my wife and then to make public at our church what God was doing. Without a quiet time I would never had had the strength or courage to leave behind one career and move on to the career God had prepared for me.
The truth is that without a regular and consistent quiet time where you spend time in God’s Word and prayer you will never see the fulfillment of God’s will for your life. It is possible to miss God’s call. It is possible to be outside of God’s will. It is possible to make well-meaning decisions that are not what God wants for your life. It is possible to spend your life doing something completely other than what God wanted for you. Having a quiet time on a regular basis will enable you to “break out” spiritually and be in the midst of God’s will for your life.
And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching. - Hebrews 10:24-25.
For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them. - Matthew 18:20.
During one week in 1984 God brought a passage of Scripture to my attention three separate times. He first brought it to my attention during my quiet time, then during Sunday School, and then in the pastor’s message. I had no doubt that God was speaking to me and it was this same passage of Scripture that God brought to my attention some seven years later in my quiet time confirming His call upon my life (You can read the full story here: http://www.theburningbush.org/10.html#Seven and http://www.theburningbush.org/10.html#Eight). I would never have experienced a spiritual break out if it were not for regular church attendance. Being in church for every opportunity of worship, fellowship and learning is vital to being where God can speak clearly to your heart.
Charles Haddon Spurgeon is often called the Prince of Preachers (1834 - 1892) and perhaps was the foremost preacher of the 19th Century. In 1861 Spurgeon’s congregation built the Metropolitan Tabernacle which had seating for 4,700 people. Also in 1861 Spurgeon preached at the Crystal Palace in London to a crowd of 23,654. But Spurgeon would never have been saved or heard God’s call if he had not been a determined church attender. Here is how he tells the story in his own words of the day of his salvation: “I sometimes think I might have been in darkness and despair until now had it not been for the goodness of God in sending a snowstorm, one Sunday morning, while I was going to a certain place of worship. When I could go no further, I turned down a side street, and came to a little Primitive Methodist Chapel. In that chapel there may have been a dozen or fifteen people. I had heard of the Primitive Methodists, how they sang so loudly that they made people’s heads ache; but that did not matter to me. I wanted to know how I might be saved, and if they could tell me that, I did not care how much they made my head ache. The minister did not come that morning; he was snowed up, I suppose. At last, a very thin-looking man, a shoemaker, or tailor, or something of that sort, went up into the pulpit to preach.” It was during a snow storm so bad that the pastor was not even able to come to church that Spurgeon heard God speak to him through a faithful servant who did make it to church that day and reluctantly shared God’s Word as best He could. The impact of Spurgeon’s ministry is still being felt and will be for all eternity. The church made it possible and facilitated the spiritual break out of Charles Haddon Spurgeon.
The church is not man’s idea - it is God’s idea and plan. There is no getting around the fact that it is God’s will and plan for you to be in church every time the doors are open. How much does God desire this? Jesus died for the church. The church is the body of Christ on this earth. If you want to break out spiritually the church must be part of the plan. Thank God for the church!!
Three times I was beaten with rods; once I was stoned; three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I have been in the deep; in journeys often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils of my own countrymen, in perils of the Gentiles, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren; in weariness and toil, in sleeplessness often, in hunger and thirst, IN FASTINGS often, in cold and nakedness-- besides the other things, what comes upon me daily: my deep concern for all the churches. - 2 Corinthians 11:25-28.
We were immersed into the possibilities of the power of fasting at the 1996 Southern Baptist National Convention at New Orleans. Ronnie Floyd pastor of the First Baptist Church of Springdale, Arkansas spoke and shared of his experiences with fasting. He says that fasting is the gateway to supernatural power and I believe he is right. Dr. Floyd also spoke of how thousands in his church were fasting and praying for him as he spoke. After one message just before lunch, the Holy Spirit came upon us all in a powerful way. I experienced a peace that I had not experienced since the day I was saved.
At the time, we were facing a difficult decision believing that God wanted us to leave a church after having been there only for a year. We believe God led us to the convention and it is the only one we have been able to attend. We came home with a conviction that we needed to fast and pray until God would move in our lives and make it clear what we were to do. We began fasting on Monday and on the following Sunday afternoon a pastor search committee called us. It was a church that I had not considered but we knew that it came from the hand of God. You can read more about this journey with God at this URL: http://www.theburningbush.org/10.html#Nine.
After arriving at the new place of service, circumstances were still difficult. This was to have been a bivocational place of service and as I faced a particularly important interview, I again fasted and prayed for a week. As I was walking and praying early one morning the streetlights blinked on and off just as I was pleading with God to give me this job. It was not a coincidence, a freak of nature, or an accident it was the hand of God and I knew that He had heard my prayer. I was disappointed after I failed to receive the job I so very much wanted but knew that if it had been God’s will then I would have had the job. Knowing my circumstance in this situation was God’s will kept me going through even more difficult times. Looking back now, I can see that it would have been a mistake for me to have taken the job I pleaded with God about.
Fasting is not spoken of often in the Bible but it appears to have been a discipline that was taken for granted that people would know to participate in it. The apostle Paul speaks of his fastings. In Mark 9:29 Jesus, in reference to why his disciples could not cast out a demon, says that it could only be cast out through fasting and prayer. In the Old Testament, we have references to many of the great servants of God fasting. Ezra fasted, Esther fasted, Nehemiah fasted, Daniel fasted, David fasted, and the indication is that all the people fasted at set times and during troubling circumstances.
Fasting is not something that is easy for me to do and I have rarely engaged in this spiritual discipline. I know that I have missed many blessings as a result. However, if I had my spiritual journey to do over I would most definitely fast more and it would have saved me from many mistakes. I would define fasting as not eating physical food during the daytime (Dr. Floyd has a blender and uses it extensively during his fasts.). The fast is made even more effective by the complete abstention from food day and night during the fasting period. Some are unable to fast from food because of medical conditions or medications and if you are not sure please consult your medical professional. If you are unable to fast from food, you can fast other things such as television viewing.
If you want to break out spiritually then fasting should be in your repertoire. Fasting is indeed the gateway to supernatural power, guidance, wisdom and every spiritual blessing. Try it! (And while you are fasting, pray for me, please!)
Again I say to you that if two of you agree on earth concerning anything that they ask, it will be done for them by My Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them. - Matthew 18:19-20.
On July 1, 1857, Jeremiah Lanphier received an appointment as a city missionary in New York City from the Dutch Reformed Church. Lanphier was described as being a “quiet and zealous businessman.” How would he be able to make any kind of difference? He decided to begin by holding a prayer meeting at noon on Wednesdays and he randomly passed out a few invitations for others to join him. The prayer meeting was held on Fulton Street a few blocks from where the World Trade Center would eventually be located. Lanphier relates what happened, “Going my rounds in the performance of my duty one day, as I was walking along the streets, the idea was suggested to my mind that an hour of prayer, from twelve to one o'clock, would be beneficial to businessmen, who usually in great numbers take that hour for rest and refreshment. The idea was to have singing, prayer, exhortation, relation of religious experience, as the case might be; that none should be required to stay the whole hour; that all should come and go as their engagements should allow or require, or their inclinations dictate. Arrangements were made, and at twelve o'clock noon, on the 23rd day of September, 1857, the door of the third story lecture room was thrown open.”
Jeremiah had to pray by himself for the first thirty minutes but then a few men began arriving until eventually five had come making a total of six people. The next meeting was held on September 30th with 20 people attending. On October 7th, the meeting had grown to over 30 and it was decided to have the meetings daily. Within only a matter of months prayer meetings multiplied until there were over 10,000 people praying together in the city in these meetings. The movement spread across the country and to England, Scotland, Wales, and Ireland. The result was that over one million people came to know Christ as their Savior. Major social changes also were brought about because of these new believers.
God used one person to start one prayer meeting that changed the world! What would happen in your world if you asked a few friends to join you in prayer? Invite them to your home, or ask your pastor if you can meet at church and allow everyone to come that would like to be a part of it. What would happen if you were to do that? Most likely God would use you to change the world too! What a wonderful spiritual break out that would be!
(If you do start a prayer meeting please send me an email and let me know about it. I think it would be a great encouragement to us all.)
But Jesus called them to Himself and said to them, "You know that those who are considered rulers over the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you shall be your servant. And whoever of you desires to be first shall be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many." - Mark 10:42-45.
Ed Buchart retired from the marines after 20 years in 1978 and never dreamed of what God had in store for him then. “Santa” Butchart spends Christmas every year looking just like Santa Claus but this Santa tells the children what Christmas is really about. He tells them how that God loved the world so much that he sent His Son. He tells them how special they are and how much God loves them.
Ed has spent much of his time after retirement repairing wheelchairs through his non-profit corporation, Friends of Disabled Adults, Inc. The ministry grew from a little place in his garage to a 64,500 square-foot warehouse, which is filled with refurbished wheelchairs, and medical equipment. To begin with, Ed and his wife rebuilt the wheelchairs themselves but as people became aware of their ministry and demand increased they realized that they needed help. FODA now has a few employees many of whom are disabled. Ed Buchart through FODA has distributed more than $32 million dollars in refurbished wheelchairs. Buchart says that he never knew how much he was worth until he gave himself away.
Jesus, our Lord, Savior, and example gave Himself away as well. Jesus did not come to this earth to be served but to serve. We are not saved so that we can be served but so that we can serve as did our Lord. However, when we serve it should always point others to Jesus bringing glory to Him. And when we serve the ultimate purpose should be that others would come to know Jesus as their Savior.
How much are you worth? You are worth so much that God’s Son came down to this earth from the glories of Heaven suffering and dying so that you would have a Savior. Even though we are worth so very much it is not always comprehended/understood by us. However, when we begin to give ourselves away that is when our true worth is revealed not only to ourselves but to others as well. Give yourself away and break out of life, as you have known it. Give yourself away and you too can break out spiritually!
Matthew 4:18-22, “And Jesus, walking by the Sea of Galilee, saw two brothers,
Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea;
for they were fishermen. Then He said to them, “Follow Me, and I
will make you fishers of men.” They immediately left their nets and
followed Him. Going on from there, He saw two other brothers, James the
son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their
father, mending their nets. He called them, and immediately they left the
boat and their father, and followed Him.”INTRO: You could say that these fishermen broke out of life as they had known
it as fishermen. What do you think of when you hear the words “break out?”1. In the sports world you hear frequent reference to a team or individual
player breaking out.2. In a headline about a high school football team the headline
proclaims “Patriots Break Out After Half-Time.” What happened?
(1. The Patriot’s team took control of the game in the second half
outscoring the opposing team by several touchdowns.3. Or, in hockey an article proclaims, “Slumping Capitals break out against
Canes.” The Capitals had lost 10 of their last 12 games but won
this one 7-1. Their slump was over, they had broke out!4. Or, in basketball an article proclaims, “Cougars break out of shooting
slump.” They won the game 81 - 56 with 61.8% shooting and they hit 7 of 8
three pointers.5. But it is a term also used to refer to individual players. You could say
that Jason White had a “break out” season winning the Heisman Trophy.(1. When you think about how his previous two seasons ended early
with injuries you know that Jason at least feels that he has broke out from
his previous situation.Page 2
6. When someone “breaks out” jail or prison by escaping you know what has
happened.(1. Or, you might think of a “break out” as a financial move that
gives someone a financial windfall.7. It could be that one of those “break outs” will change a person’s life for
good - perhaps for good or possibly for bad.I. There is one thing, however, that is guaranteed to change your life for
the good. And that is a spiritual “break out.”1. And that, is what you and I need. That is what this church needs. That is
what this community needs.2. At best we are a plateaued church. We grown to a certain point and we are
stuck.(1. At worst and this is probably more accurate, we are a declining
church.(2. Our numbers on a graph are going down. We have some Sundays when
we are up - like last Sunday when we were at 53 in Sunday School.(3. But most Sundays we are in the 40s and some in the 30s.
(4. It wasn’t that long ago that we were in the 50s with some Sundays
in the 60s and some in the 40s.1. To be truthful and honest we have declined in attendance.
3. You can look at the population of our community and see a similar decline
in numbers.Page 3 4. We don’t have to be able to read a crystal ball to see that if the trend
continues - in 20 to 30 years there will not be much of a church
here (at least in numbers) and probably not much of a community.(1. And the decline could take place much more quickly - especially
if there were some kind of catastrophic situation.1. Such as a prolonged drought that lasts for several years.
2. Or several years of direct hits on our community by tornados.
3. Or, some other catastrophic situation that we cannot foresee.
5. These are things that we don’t want to think about and we surely don’t
want to talk about them - but the alternative is to hide our heads in the
sand like an ostrich.6. Something needs and must be done if we are to survive as a church and as a
community. We need a “break out” from our current situation.7. What we need more than anything and I believe this is the only thing that
will result in lasting change - we need a spiritual “break out.”II. That day long ago when Jesus walked along the shore of the Sea of Galilee
He called out to some of the fishermen there and it changed their
lives forever.1. Peter, Andrew, James and John would never be the same after their
encounter with the Lord.Page 4 2. Those four men left their lifelong careers that they thought they would
always pursue and in a moment of time became not fishers of fish but
instead “fishers of men.”3. Peter, Andrew, James and John are not the only ones to experience a
spiritual “break out.”(1. We know seven other men sincerely responded to the Lord’s call in
becoming His disciples, as have countless others in the centuries to
follow.4. Think of the woman at the well (John 4) who was just having a normal day
until she had a conversation with the Master of the Universe(1. and was forced to think outside of the box of her little world.
5. Once she had experienced the “break out”, she cared little what anyone
might have thought of her as she told about the Lord. In John 4 we are
told, “The woman then left her waterpot, went her way into the city, and
said to the men, “Come, see a Man who told me all things that I ever
did. Could this be the Christ?” Then they went out of the city and
came to Him.(1. In the first century world it was highly unusual that a woman
would speak so boldly to a group of men. But this woman does because she
has “broke out” spiritually.6. The man from Gadara (Mark 5) released from demonic oppression “broke out”
of his enslavement to freedom in the Lord’s service. This was a man
about whom the Bible says, And when He (Jesus) had come out of the
boat, immediately there met Him out of the tombs a man with an unclean
spirit, who had his dwelling among the tombs; and no one could bind him,
not even with chains, because he had often been bound with shackles and
chains. And the chains had been pulled apart by him, and the shackles
broken in pieces; neither could anyone tame him. And always,
night and day, he was in the mountains and in the tombs, crying out and
cutting himself with stones.”(1. The man from Gadara broke out of spiritual oppression and
imprisonment through the touch of Jesus and was raised up to serve Him
spreading the Gospel throughout Decapolis.III. What did most of these people have in common? They were willing to
listen to what the Lord had to say and they responded.1. Only the woman at the well even attempted to engage in a verbal exchange
of spiritual ideas.(1. When they encountered the Truth, they recognized that this One
was radically different.2. The result was a “break out” from everything they had known in the past.
Their lives and their worlds were enlarged beyond their wildest
dreams and imaginations.3. What we need, what this church needs, what this community needs, what you
and I need is a spiritual “break out.”4. For us to have that kind of spiritual encounter with our Lord we need and
must get back to the basics of holy living.5. Every great revival has begun with a realization in the hearts of the
people that they have sinned and upon that realization they have turned to the
Lord - it’s called repentance.6. There are no short cuts, there is no bypassing repentance. That is where
it starts.(1. Before we can “break out” we must rid our lives of those sinful
things and activities that do not belong there. 1 John 1:8 says
what? “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth
is not in us.”Page 6 7. Who of us here today can stand and say we are living a perfect life? If
you are please stand and share how you are living your life of
perfection.(1. The fact is that sin whether it is your sin or my sin prevents a
spiritual “break out.”(2. Your sin hinders me. My sin hinders you. We are the local body
of Christ. If your part of the body is wounded through sin or if my
part is wounded through sin it weakens us all.8. The solution to the sin problem is given to us in the next verse in 1 John
in 1 John 1:9, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to
forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”9. In the very next verse we are warned again not to deny our sin. In 1 John
1:10 we are told, “If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a
liar, and His word is not in us.”10. That is where our spiritual “break out” must begin with confession that
we haven’t been living fully in the will of God - not fully doing all
and being all that He would have us to.(1. We have to come to a point where we realize we need more of God
than we have. The Bible says we have not because we ask not.(2. God is more than willing to come more fully into our lives if
there is room for Him.11. Repentance means that we are willing to empty the bad things out of our
lives to make room for the good things of God.12. At Christmas time we sing about preparing Him room. We preach about how
there was no room for Him in the inn.Page 7 13. Those are simply empty words without repentance, through confession, and
the emptying of the bad from our lives through the cleansing of His
forgiveness.14. We talk about how we want to grow spiritually, how we want our church and
community to experience revival, how we want our church to grow in
numbers.15. But for that to happen we cannot keep on living the way we have been
living. There has to be a change. There must be repentance that is more than
just words.IV. Once there has been repentance and your heart is willing to respond when
you hear the Lord’s Voice calling - at that point there are some
things that you can do to facilitate your and our spiritual “break out.”1. We must get back to the basics of holy, Christian living. You know what
they are - But you are lazy, I’m lazy and we think what’s the point.2. The point is that if we are ever going to have a spiritual “break out”
we’ve got to do this together. We’ve got to encourage, and provoke one
another unto love and good works.3. What you do or don’t do directly affects me. What I do or don’t do
directly affects you. We need to be concerned about each other.(1. We need to feel free to ask each other how we are doing
spiritually. We need to feel free to remind each other that it does matter
whether we are living the way we ought to or whether we are not.4. It is called accountability. We are accountable to each other. Sunday
School and Discipleship Training is an excellent time to make
ourselves accountable.Page 8 5. So, we need repentance, and holy living with accountability. That is the
foundation that must be laid for our spiritual “break out.”6. What else do we need? There are several things that we need to be about on
an ongoing basis to facilitate our spiritual “break out.” Over the
next several weeks we will be looking at them in depth.V. These are all equally important but I want to begin with the Word of God -
the Bible.1. We have to have a daily input/intake of God’s Word or we will never have a
spiritual “break out.” Matthew 4:42. We need to be reading through the Bible on a daily basis and in about
three chapters a day we can read through the entire Bible in one year.3. But we need more than that. We need to meditate on God’s Word. The Bible
tells us to hide God’s Word in our hearts - the only way to do that
is to memorize it.4. If we really meditate on a portion of Scripture we will have it
memorized. Most of us have meditated upon John 3:16 to the point that we have
it memorized.(1. But John 3:16 should not be the only verse that we ever meditate
on to the extent that we have it memorized.5. If you want to grow as a child of God in an accelerated way you need to
memorize Scripture.(1. The Navigators have an excellent memory program called the
Topical Memory System.(2. It consists of 60 verses and I’ve copied from the Internet those
topics and verse references and they are available here at the front.Page 9 1. You can take that and begin memorizing one verse a week.
2. In just one year you will have 52 verses of Scripture
memorized.(3. Just think how much stronger you would be in your Christian walk
with that much of God’s Word memorized?1. Think how easier it would be for God to speak to you
through those verses you have memorized?6. Not only do you need God’s Word in your life and heart every day you also
need to be in communication with God.(1. It’s called prayer. Talking with God. Your talking to Him and
Him talking to you.
Jeremiah 33:3; Ephesians 3:20-21; John 5:14-157. You need God’s Word and you need prayer and then you need to put the two
of them together in a quiet time.(1. That’s a time when you allow God to speak to you through His Word
and you spend time in conversation with Him about the concerns of
your heart.(2. It works best when it is a regular time, it the same place, using
a Bible reading plan that is consistent.8. Not only do you need to have intake through the Bible, prayer, and a quiet
time but you need to have output.(1. If we only have intake we will become like the dead sea.
(2. Output/SERVICE is a necessity for the child of God. We must
constantly be seeking ways that we can be of service to others.Page 10 9. We are the hands, and feet of our Lord on this earth. Search for ways,
find ways, pray for ways to minister to those around you.VI. CONCLUSION - Would you like to experience a spiritual “break out?” This
church, this community desperately needs you to have one.1. Before you can “break out” spiritually there must be repentance,
accountability and there must be a prepared heart.2. You can “break out” if your heart is willing to respond when you hear the
Lord’s Voice calling.3. If God were to speak to your heart right now calling you into a larger
world and experience than you have ever known before - would you be ready to
respond?(1. Would you leave your “nets” and go without looking back?
(2. Or, would you argue, debate, and procrastinate until it was forever too
late?4. Make no mistake. If, if you have a willing and listening heart, someday
Jesus will be walking your way and you too will “break out”
spiritually.
Copyright © 2003 - 2004 Ed Wrather. All rights reserved. This material may be used on a non-profit basis with source noted.