Sermons from Good News: private time with God is vital.

Church 6/8/2025


Offertory scripture:


Psalm 23:5-6

You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies;
You anoint my head with oil;
My cup runs over.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
All the days of my life;
And I will dwell in the house of the Lord
Forever.

Sermon message:


We need a relationship with God. Therefore come to Him, wherever you are.
This is why Jesus Christ came and died and rose again.


Thesis: private time with God is vital.


Caveat: this doesn’t replace corporate gathering time with God.


Hebrews 10:25

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.

Vital = absolutely necessary


This must be revived and maintained on a regular basis. If you don’t, you’ll feel it and notice it.


Point #1: God will use unusual things to get your attention.


Example of Saul/Paul on the road to Damascus where Jesus intervened.


Example of Moses noticing the burning bush and it’s not being consumed.


Point #2: How you and I respond to those special moments is important.


Spend time with God. Paul, Moses, and countless other men of God spent time with Him.


Point #3: Distractions will try to steal your time with God.


This will increase as we get closer to Jesus’s return.


Distractions come from the distractor.


Consider Adam and Eve. The devil distracted them.


John 10:10

The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.

Ephesians 6:11

Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.

Wiles = military strategies


2 Corinthians 2:11

lest Satan should take advantage of us; for we are not ignorant of his devices.

The enemy knows the benefits of us spending private time with God. This is why he works hard to distract and derail us. Therefore, we must be vigilant and persistent in spending time with the Lord.


John 10:27

My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.

John 10:5

Yet they will by no means follow a stranger, but will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.”

When we spend time with God, we recognize His voice.
When we don’t spend time with God, we forget His voice and don’t recognize Him.


Time away from God will steal those dreams that God has for you.
Time with God will bring back those dreams that God has for you.


Romans 10:17

So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

Consider the case of Joshua. He was closer to God vs the other Israelites although not as close as Moses was. However, once Moses passed into eternity, God needed to strengthen Joshua as a leader by commanding him to spend private time with Him.


Joshua 1:8-9

This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

This is for all of us: we all have insecurities, perhaps ones that have had felt disqualified from serving God.


Point #4: During our private time with God, He helps us with our insecurities.


Conversely, time away from God will likely strengthen our insecurities.


Below are Moses expressing his insecurities:


Exodus 3:11-12

But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh, and that I should bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?”
So He said, “I will certainly be with you. And this shall be a sign to you that I have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall serve God on this mountain.”

Exodus 4:1

Then Moses answered and said, “But suppose they will not believe me or listen to my voice; suppose they say, ‘The Lord has not appeared to you.’ ”

Exodus 4:10

Then Moses said to the Lord, “O my Lord, I am not eloquent, neither before nor since You have spoken to Your servant; but I am slow of speech and slow of tongue.”

Exodus 4:13

But he said, “O my Lord, please send by the hand of whomever else You may send.”

Time with God changed all those insecurities and Moses obeyed God. God helped him with his insecurities.


Consider Paul. He spoke the full truth.


1 Corinthians 15:9-10

For I am the least of the apostles, who am not worthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not in vain; but I labored more abundantly than they all, yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.

1 Timothy 1:12

And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord who has enabled me, because He counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry,

We need private time with God.


Point #5: God is calling you; will you answer?


To strengthen you, to lift you up, to equip you. That’s God.


Consider Samuel when he was a boy. God called him but he didn’t know yet, not until Eli told him to respond to God.


Matthew 11:15

He who has ears to hear, let him hear!

Matthew 11:28

Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

Jeremiah 33:2-3

“Thus says the Lord who made it, the Lord who formed it to establish it (the Lord is His name): ‘Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know.’

Even though we have since moved to a new location, I still really like this still shot of the room our church called home during the transition season.

Note after sharing the sermon: Point #3 (regarding distractions) got to me because it has been true. I’ve been a very distracted person in my life. In a recent devotional regarding taking all thoughts captive to the obedience of Christ, it provides the antidote to distractions running rampant. I’ve taken that step of uttering that verse under my breath, and although it may not appear to work right away, it does over time. I agree with the sermon overall -- private time with God is very important. It’s where I’ve gotten to experience Him the most and the most regularly, and it is why I work hard to maintain a daily schedule of Bible devotionals (hence all those Bible devotional blog posts), as well as prayer and some kind of annual, chronological Bible-reading program. It keeps me in the Word daily, and it also keeps me in all parts of the Word instead of overfocusing on certain parts while completely ignoring other areas.

I do agree also that corporate time with God is important, but I’ve also noted how in so many places that corporate time can (and has) easily devolve into a sort of country-club atmosphere but with just barely enough Jesus to convince enough people that it somehow is a church. It’s why, for me -- and I would argue, for all -- it is very important to have an inner circle of mature believers with whom I can check in (and they too can check in), we share about our lives and our prayer requests, and we pray for each other. I would also add the one very important layer of maturity. I’ve had willfully immature individuals in my circles before (and I suspect that will always come up from season to season while on this earth), and in my younger, less mature years, I’ve been part of circles where I was silently excluded (without my knowing until after, and without any understanding as to why until later) for the same reasons.

Bottom line, having that 1:1 time with God is critical. It was something that only came to me and grew on me gradually over the years, and really, prior to attending Good News, was never outright preached or spoken of. So I’m grateful to my pastor for explicitly stating this, given that many pastors don’t or won’t.

I’m also very grateful for the relatively-new development of a few historical friendships that never quite made it to “inner-circle” status like I mentioned above, that now is starting to round into shape as such. Our communication is still very sporadic, but recently I was part of a set of texts with a few of such individuals where we prayed for one another (yes, via text) and sent encouraging Bible verses to each other. This kind of thing gives me hope and joy, that some of these friendships don’t have to be stagnant, that they can still grow to something wonderful. Praise God. In the name of Jesus I pray and believe that this will continue to grow, develop, and flourish. Amen.