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The god Who Has Big Plans for Me

David Sorn

Jan 12, 2025

One of the most popular versions of Christianity being talked about today is the false idea that God always has another miracle on the way for you! Learn how to spot this and what the real truth is!

MESSAGE TRANSCRIPT

INTRODUCTION

Morning again!

I want to echo what was said in the announcements about House Church.

What we do here on Sunday mornings (corporate worship, the teaching of the Word) is very important.

But Sunday morning church it’s only half of church.

House Church is the other half…and it’s equally important.

You need people in your life that are helping you personally grow as a disciple.

If all you do is come here on Sunday mornings because you like this service better than the church down the road…

That’s not Christianity.

That’s like American Edu-Tainment Consumerism

SO take the leap. If you’re gonna be here, this is what we do here.

Renovation Church believes in big and small church. We do both.

Sign up for a House Church today.

And a brand new one is a great place to start!

Okay, we are in week 2 of our series called, “America’s Golden Calves.”

…where we are looking at the most common ways that we as American individuals tend to revise God into a different & falsified image.

Last week, we studied the passage in Exodus 32 where the Israelites decided to make God in the image of a Golden Calf.

And they did this because that version of God was more reflective of their culture, it conveniently allowed more sin, and well, if you have a golden calf, you can make it say anything you want.

And so over these next 3 Sundays were going to be talking about 3 of, what I believe are the biggest heresies or twistings of the truth that the modern, American church is facing in our day.

Here’s a look at where we’re going:

(Golden Calves Series Schedule Slide).

I do want to say a bit more about next week (the 19th)…especially if you missed this important announcement last week:

Next Sunday we will be bringing in one of the most famous detransitioners in the United States, Laura Perry Smalts.

Laura actually lived as a man for 8 years, but then found Jesus Christ, and detransitioned.

She now lives as a woman again.

Next week will be a very different sort of Sunday as I will be interviewing her on stage, and she’s going to share her powerful testimony with us.

And then next Sunday evening from 7-9pm, Laura will also be doing an evening session on “Understanding Gender Dysphoria”…

….and also a session on “The Dangers of Gender Transition.”

Childcare will be provided that evening.

Our prayer is that if you are wrestling with this topic, or someone in your family or close to you has been affected by this…

…that this evening session, will lots of rich content, will be a blessing to you.

Or, even if you know another Christian family in our area who needs more good content on this, invite them to come that evening.

And lastly, if you are new since we did our monumental Gender & Sexuality series last January…

(Gender & Sexuality Series Slide)

I think it would be EXTREMELY helpful if you listened to that series online before next week.

Or at minimum, that you listen to the first message which is:

(What does the Bible Say about Gender Title Screen)

“What does the Bible say about Gender?”

We want you all to be caught up with a good Biblical understanding of this issue before next Sunday.

TO MAKE YOUR LIFE BETTER (but sometimes He makes it harder)

(Series Slide)

All right, let’s get into today’s topic.

We’re going to start in Paul’s 2nd letter to Timothy today

2 Timothy 4:2-4

Page 814

Our normal custom here at Renovation Church is to camp out in a passage and really teach through it, but sometimes to rightly explain a topic in Scripture, it is necessary to systematically look at several Scriptures if you’re going to explain that Biblical Topic well…

…so we’ll be doing that this morning.

But let’s look first at these important words from Paul to Timothy:

(2 Timothy 4:2-4) – NIV

2 Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction. 3 For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. 4 They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.

Or to Golden Calves…versions of God that aren’t actually true.

And one of the most popular Golden Calves we are facing today in American Christianity is what I’m calling:

(Title Screen: The god who has big plans for me)

In order to help you differentiate between this common (but false) version of God and the Biblical version of God…I have a chart for you today! 😊

This is a great opportunity to get out that Renovation notebook we handed out last week (if you didn’t get one, you can grab one at the Welcome Table), and start taking notes.

(Chart 1)

This golden calf…the “god who always has a great plan for you”…seems to always be “promising to make your life better”

Let me give you a bunch of examples of what this Golden Calf looks like if you’re still a bit confused on what I’m talking about, because it’s everywhere.

Pay attention the next time you listen to a Christian teaching on social media, or on YouTube, or even on the radio.

And you’ll notice that most viral clips about Christianity today talk about how:

God is always ready to slay that next giant in your life…just believe!

Or about how you are “highly favored and highly blessed”

Or think about how we brand even Christian music?

If you turn on the Christian Radio Station KLove, they’re going to say, “Positive, Encouraging – Klove!”

I’m just waiting for the day they quote our passage from 2 Timothy and say, “Encouraging, Correcting, Rebuking – Klove!”

But nobody’s gonna tune into that.

We want a Golden Calf that speaks encouragement to us, not challenge.

Or think about it this way: What are the verses that our culture has memorized…that, if I say, “Tell me a Bible verse,” what do you know?

We don’t have on fast recall the verses about suffering for Christ, or the crucifixion, or God’s glory.

No, the culture tattoos on themselves, verses like Philippians 4:13 (I can do all things through Christ)

Which, is actually about Paul saying that he can find contentment in Christ even in prison.

Or Jeremiah 29:11 (this is like America’s life verse)

(Jeremiah 29:11) – NIV

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.

Which, in context, was a verse about how after God had punished the Israelites (for 70 years) in exile for their sin, he was now going to show kindness to the next generation.

But we don’t care about that! Context Schmontex!

We just start molding God into our own golden calf, and we say:

Yes, we say, “That’s my God!

“He’s got plans to prosper me!”

“He is anointing me for greatness!”

(Title Screen)

Or think about this: If you go to Spotify and play a Christian worship playlist, what will you hear?

Probably a song like the very popular worship song: “Miracle after Miracle”

Which I feel like encapsulates this golden calf.

The song, that’s everywhere, says that another miracle for you is on the way, just around the corner!

Listen, I believe in miracles!

You could have a miracle coming into your life…tomorrow!

But you could also die tomorrow.

Just being real…and…Biblical.

(James 4:13-15) – NIV

13 Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.” 14 Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. 15 Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.”

Here is the Biblical Truth

(Chart 2)

See, a golden calf, a false god, only promises that your life will get better.

But the real God of the Bible says He will make your life better (through the wisdom of His ways), but also harder.

Through the difficulty of obedience.

Or through pruning like we talked about in December.

Or through suffering, that He will use for His glory.

(Philippians 1:29) - NIV

For it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe in him, but also to suffer for him,

(Chart 2)

In part, I think so many of us are falling for this particular Golden Calf because we’ve grown up swimming in the idealism of the American Dream.

And we all dream about what we’re going to be when we grow up, and what we’re going to accomplish.

And then like some sort of religious merger, we meld together God with the American Dream, and we say, “If God is good and loving, why wouldn’t God want to help make my life go better?”

But what if God’s plan for you is to get cancer…because like Job in the Bible, He knows that you could keep the faith in suffering, and give Him glory (from a platform people would listen to)?

Or what if God’s plan for you is to teach you contentment through your singleness?

Or what if His plan for you isn’t for you to be successful in the world’s eyes?

But average?

What if His plan is for you to be below average?

You can tell that we actually do believe in this Golden Calf version of God (where the American Dream meets Jesus) because plenty of you just cocked your head at me funny when I said God might have willed for you to be unsuccessful.

Like, how blinded are we by our American Dream?

Let me ask you a question: Is God looking at the 33 million people in impoverished Mozambique (who aren’t successful in the world’s eyes at all), and going, “I messed up on that one, because the people I love are successful!”

Did God not love Elijah because he was a poor prophet that most people hated?

In Genesis, did God not use Joseph when God put him in prison.

Was that not part of God’s plan just because it was hard?

My Christian friend, We cannot measure God’s love by how well our American Dream is playing out.

We measure God’s love by what we read in here.

We measure God’s love, not by our success, but by the cross.

TO SERVE YOU (You are His servant)

(Title Screen)

I want to look now at a second aspect of this golden calf of “The false God who has big plans for me”

If you look underneath the hood this pop-culture version of Christianity, what you will discover this:

(Chart 3)

Here “god” seems to exist to serve you.

Whereas the Bible says that “You exist to serve God & other people”

And you can once again see how fast we are falling for this Golden Calf by how we pray

Many of us pray like God is our servant.

Now, of course no one is going to say it like that, “God is my servant” NO way.

But…

When you talk to God, do you say:

“God show me how to serve you today.”

OR

“God do this for me today.”

And I would ask: Who’s serving who in the conversation?

Now listen, you should ask God for things, and God delights in answering your prayers…

But we need to be careful in how we’re framing our relationship to Him.

(Romans 11:36) – NIV

For from him and through him and for him are all things.
    To him be the glory forever! Amen.

(Chart 3)

So that means that the main way I am to see my relationship with God is as His servant.

We’ve lost much of this in the American Church, and it’s partly why every church’s sermon series seem to be stuck on an endless loop of…

…how God can help you with your Mental Health, Finances, or with having more success in your relationships

God is continually described as a Being who is there, on the sidelines, ready to move mountains for you… (a good servant)

It’s almost a new-age view of God

Where God can be controlled to serve your purposes and make your life better (that’s how paganism works)

We’ve got to ask ourselves: Are we following Jesus or are we asking Jesus to follow us?

You know, tag along Jesus in case I need you if I get sad (or anxious), or need a new job, but otherwise stay out of my life and don’t tell me who I can or cannot sleep with or how to live.

How does Jesus actually tell us how to follow Him?

(Luke 9:23-24) – NIV

Then he said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.  For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it

TO REWARD YOU FOR OBEDIENCE

(Title Screen)

And it’s really important that we let go of this Golden Calf that says, “God’s got great plans to answer all your prayers!”

Or “God wants to launch you into your destiny”

Because…that version of God is going to disappoint you.

A) Because he’s not real

And B) Because life isn’t just a series of miracle after miracle…sometimes it’s really hard.

We live in a fallen creation.

And if we don’t speak the truth on this, we’re going to have more & more people (especially young people) walking away from God when life gets hard… (because they thought God was only supposed to make their life get better)

So let me ask you some questions about what you actually believe?

Do you believe in the prosperity gospel?

That’s the much-maligned false teaching that says, “If you’re a good Christian, and give lots of your money to God, God will then bless you with health & wealth?”

Do you believe that?

I’m willing to bet that almost all of you do not.

But what if I say this:

If you’re a good Christian, faithful to God, and obedient to His commands, God will reward you with:

-A good marriage

-Good kids

-Faithful career

-A middle-class life

-Good health

-Long life for your family

Do you believe that?

I’m guessing that most of you would probably still say, “No……..I don’t believe that.”

Okay, then, but if we don’t believe that…

…why then do we so deeply question God when one of those things doesn’t work out?

When your family member dies at 50, your marriage falls apart, your kid goes astray.

We then begin to accuse God.

And in our hearts, we say:

“God, how could you do this me?

“They died!”

“I lost my job”

“They left”

“And God I’ve been serving you, my whole life! Going to church, trying to the right thing, and you do this to me?!? Really?!?”

What’s happening here?

Why do we get so mad at God?

It’s because when those things on the screen don’t happen, we feel like God breached the contract of what He owes us.

What’s happening is that most of us actually do believe in a soft prosperity Gospel after all.

(Chart 4)

And we do believe in this Golden Calf that says God is supposed to reward us for being obedient.

If you were to listen to a heretical teacher, a prosperity gospel teacher, like Benny Hinn or something, what you’d hear them teach is what is called the doctrine (the false doctrine) of seed-faith.

They tell you that if you give lots of money to their ministries, that’s like planting a seed that will eventually yield a harvest of blessing in your life.

It’s this transactional relationship with God.

You give money, and then God owes you a blessing.

I hope that sounds crazy to you, because it is.

But most American Christians believe (without recognizing it) the relational version of that.

We believe (otherwise we wouldn’t get so frustrated at God) that we’ve planted the seeds of faithfulness and obedience…and thus, God owes us a good life.

My friends, that’s not Christianity, that’s Karma.

And you don’t want Karma.

Now, does God bless you for being faithful and obedient?

Sure, in some ways. He can and He sometimes does.

Mostly in the trusting of His ways.

We talked about this in Proverbs in the Fall.

There is great blessing when you walk the path of the Righteous..

When I choose forgiveness over bitterness, I’m blessed…and so on.

But too many of us are worshipping this revised version of God that we say is not allowed to use suffering in our lives because He owes us for all of the good deeds we’ve done.

And listen to me, that “Golden Calf of Karma” is not what you want to worship.

If God is supposed to pay me back for how I’ve lived, then what I will receive, is not blessings, but hell.

Don’t play that game.

The truth is, my life is in His hands.

(Chart 5)

And the Real God of the Bible is going to use my life for his glory…in any way He sees fit.

I am His servant, He is not mine.

John Wesley used to encourage people to pray the following prayer at the beginning of every year, and I think it’s much more reflective of Scripture’s truth than how many of us think of God today:

John Wesley Covenant Prayer

I am no longer my own, but Yours.

Put me to what You will, rank me with whom You will;

Put me to doing, put me to suffering;

Let me be employed for You or laid aside for You,

Exalted for You or brought low for You;

Let me be full, let me be empty,

Let me have all things, let me have nothing:

I freely and wholeheartedly yield all things to Your pleasure and disposal.

And now, glorious and blessed God,

Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,

You are mine, and I am Yours.

So be it.

That is Biblical Christianity.

That’s the real God…not a golden calf.

How do I know that?

Because it’s what Scripture teaches, and it’s the pattern of Jesus.

When facing a brutal death on the cross, Jesus doesn’t demand that:

God the Father grant him a better life

Or that God serve His wishes

Or that God reward Him for His obedience.

But He submits His life to the Father, and says, “Not my will, but yours be done”

If anyone deserved an easier life for their obedience, it was Jesus!

So can we say that God didn’t love Jesus because Jesus suffered?

No, God loved His Son with all that love is.

But his suffering, was used, for God’s glory!

And for our blessing.

And so Jesus, our model, submits to the will of the Father.

And so too will God use your difficulties…if you trust Him.

And the good news is that our reward is still great.

This column on the right doesn’t mean that your life is worse now.

Because the column on the left is just a bunch empty promises about temporary rewards

But the real truth, the real God, guarantees you much more.

I think of what Paul wrote…Paul who suffered so much for Christ…

He was stoned, shipwrecked, beaten, imprisoned.

And he writes this:

(2 Corinthians 4:17) – NIV

For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.

Your reward in Christ is great.

For no matter what comes, and no matter what suffering you endure in this difficult life…what comes for the believer is Paradise.

It’s eternity with God and His goodness.

Our reward is great, my friends.

So surrender, to the Real God of the Bible, not the Golden Calf of empty promises.

Let me pray.

Copyright:

David Sorn

Renovation Church in Blaine, MN

You may use this material all you like! We only ask that you do not charge a fee and that you quote the source and not say it is your own.

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