I preached this sermon last Sunday night for our 11 grads going off to college. I hope it helps you as much as it has helped me preach it. 

Congratulations, graduates. In just a few short days, you’ll step onto a stage and receive your diploma, and while doing that two big things will be happening for you - 1) You’ll be making a significant accomplishment on 13 years of work and dedication, and 2) you’ll be closing one chapter of your life and opening a whole new one. 

On a personal note, this Class of 2014 is a very special one to me. This is the first group that I saw as Freshmen. I remember walking into class that Sunday morning in January 3 ½ years ago, terrified at how such a large group of freshmen were going to react to my teaching. Since then, we’ve had a lot of great times to share at activities, sporting events, and here in worship. 

Safe to say that I, personally, have some pretty good memories from you all. 

So the main question I have for you tonight is:

What memories will you make from here on out? And what path will they take you on? 

Tonight we’ll be talking about God’s path: how to stay on it, where it might lead you, all those things. 

If we’re moving forward on this path, we can’t dwell on the past. We can’t relive memories from high school. After you walk across that stage in a few weeks and get your diploma, high school is over. High school, and all the tests, grades, drama, and sometimes, the relationships are over. So where does your path go from here?

If you’re not a Christian, there’s a lot of uncertainty with that question. You can’t move forward on God’s path if you’re not first a Christian! If you are, then your path is actually very clear. This evening, very quickly, we’re going to talk about your path that you should walk with God and how to seek out God’s direction. 


1. Steps are ordered. 

You’ve always heard “A journey of 1000 miles begins with a single step,” but what does that actually mean? It means that in life there are lots of steps. 

High School is a big step that you’ve just completed. But that’s all it is, is a step in your life. The next step may be college. It may be going out to work. It may be both. But the next step for you, whatever that may be, comes after the last. Like we said before, dwelling on the past doesn’t do you a lot of good when going to your next step. 

Our steps have to be ordered, just like we order our food. One of the best parts about graduation is all the eating out. I must have ate out with parents and grandparents for like 4 days straight when I graduated high school. It was great. But when you go out to eat and your order food, you expect the food that you ordered to be what they bring out. If you ordered something small and they bring out a 7-course meal for you, that’s going to be too much. We usually only order what we can eat, and when we don’t, when we eat too much, our stomachs let us know fairly quickly. 

In the same way, God orders our steps and steps that we are able to take. Psalm 37.23 says The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord, and He delights in his way. 

If our steps are ordered, then we must assume that there is some planning involved as well. Think about it - you don’t ever do anything without a plan. Whether it’s deciding and going to eat Mexican or Chinese after Sunday morning worship this morning or making plans for where to go to college, your steps in life are ordered and your plans don’t just happen, they are put in place and planned carefully. Proverbs 16.9 says, A man's heart plans his way, But the Lord directs his steps. Notice the word ‘step’ again. Our God directs our steps.


2. Paths are directed. 

Proverbs 3.5 says Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct your paths. The key to unlocking God's direction is by acknowledging Him in all our ways.

Going to college, you probably feel like (or will feel like) you’re on top of the world. You’re finally out of your parents house. You’re at a place where no one is going to badger you with rules. You have a lot more freedom than you might have had at home. And most of us will look at our lives and say “I’ve got this.” 

Like me. Even with the rules and structure of the Marines Corps, I thought to myself, “This is great. I’m finally off on my own. I can do whatever I want. I’ve got this.” 

One of the worst mistakes I ever made in my entire life was not seeking God when I probably needed him the most. After two combat tours in Afghanistan and Iraq, I was completely depressed and burnt out. I didn’t go to church. I didn’t seek out Godly things. I didn’t seek out God’s people to help me on my path. 

If we are Christians, God directs our paths. Not activities, or degrees, or careers, or others, or boyfriends and girlfriends - GOD DOES. And if we let God direct our feet to walk His path, we will be taken care of. 

Those two years without the church in my life were probably the darkest my life had ever been. Don’t forget about God when you’re off on your own. Don’t forget how He has taken care of you so far. If you trust in him, He will take care of you. Just as the verse Kyle mentioned last Sunday night - Romans 8.28 - For we know that all things work together for good. 

Ah, wait a second, that’s wrong. If we look at the verse carefully, and we see the parts we sometimes glaze over:

And we know that for those that love the Lord all things work together for good, for those who are called according to His purpose. 

Speaking from personal experience - it was the times that I did not let God direct my steps and was not active in his church that I had the hardest and darkest times of my life. Let your path be directed by God, and nothing else. 


So as we close this evening, I want to offer you four ways that you can find (and stay on) God’s path. 

1. Follow the instructions. We follow instructions in everything else in life, yet sometimes we put God on the back burner. Know God’s Word. Read it, study it, just as you would civil engineering or nursing. Because there will be a test later, and you need to be prepared. 

2. Seek the narrow path. You are not the first person to struggle with sex, drugs, alcohol, or any of the other various temptations and things that would seek to take you away from God’s path. Stick with those who are struggling the same way you are. Seek out fellow Christians. Seek out churches nearby. No one has promised that the Christian life will be easy, and that’s especially true in your years to come, when you really find out who you are and what you will do with your life. So ask yourself the question that stems from Matthew chapter 7: will your path be wide and easy and lead you away from God, or will it be narrow and difficult and lead you to God? 

3. Don’t seek wide ways or strange Gods. Idols can come in many forms. Maybe your idol is yourself - you’ve finally gotten away from parents and you now choose to do what you maybe couldn’t at home. Or maybe that idol is schoolwork. Or money. Or a boyfriend or girlfriend. Whatever form that idol takes, if it prevents you from following God in any way, it should not be a part of your path in life. 

4. Always plan with God in mind. As I told you earlier, my life did not go as I’d planned. I had hoped to be married by age 23. That didn’t happen for me until age 27. When I joined the military in 2000, it was a totally different world come September 11, 2001. I didn’t plan on that. My life did not turn out as I thought it would, but it turned out exactly as God thought it would. 

Jeremiah 29.11 says I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord. I know the plans I have for you, Austin. I know the plans I have for you, Grayson, He says. 

In the scripture that was read earlier, Psalm 16.11, David says You have made know to me the path of life. We know what God’s plans are - it’s in His Word.

I love the phrase that Kyle has said in some past sermons recently, and that is to ask the question, “What is God up to?” 

What is God up to and how is He working in my life when I arrive at UT Knoxville in August? Or at MTSU? Or Cumberland University? What is God up to when He gave me THIS roommate? What is He up to when my Christian morals are challenged in my classes? What is God doing right now in my life?”

We should always plan with God in mind. God should not fit in our plans, He should be the most integral part of the plan. And we should always be asking what God is up to in our lives, because He always is. 


Tonight, this lesson has mainly been for our graduates, but the message applies to us all. Have you been true to God’s path? Do you need to get back on God’s path? Maybe you need to start your journey on God’s path by becoming a Christian and being baptized tonight. If you have any spiritual needs this evening, come while we stand and sing. 

The crew at AIM (Adventures in Ministry) has been hard at work getting a brand-new site ready for everyone, and they've done an outstanding job. In case you didn't already know, Adventures In Ministry is a podcast network for 5 different podcasts focused on ministers, technology, sports, and Christian living. It's also a repository for FREE downloadable resources like classes, retreats and devotionals from some of the biggest names out there. As part of the AIM team, I'll tell you that we have some big plans for the near future, so stay tuned!

Run, don't walk to the new AIM site at our new home at AdventuresInMinistry.com. You won't be sorry. 

It's tax time. Have you paid your dues? In Romans 13, Paul tells us that we have payments to make to God as well. 

Render to all what is due them: tax to whom tax is due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honor to whom honor.  Romans 13.7 (NASB)

 

The Bear Trap

Imagine you are walking through the woods at dusk on a hiking trip to the top of a mountain. It’s cold, it may be the end of the day and you’re trying to get home. You're thinking about how great it was to see the overlook, and see the beauty of God’s creation at sunset. As with all cases, there is an unknown factor on this seemingly peaceful hike.

There’s a big bear down the path. 

In this situation, what do you need to know? Do you need to know how to better your career? Do you need to understand the best way to improve your marriage? Should you be concerned with the renovation of the house that you just purchased for your family? These are each important things and knowledge in these areas is highly advisable but, as you walk down this path in the darkening woods towards a life-altering, if not life-ending experience, there is only one thing you need to know. There is a bear on the path, and it intends to do you harm. At this moment, there is simply no other knowledge that is important, relative to the knowledge of the danger that awaits you.

If someone came running down the path from the other direction, having just escaped this huge beast, you would expect them to warn you. You would expect them to impart the knowledge that there is a bear in your path, because this is the only knowledge that matters at this moment. This stranger might be an expert at home renovations or he might be a marriage counselor, able to guide and direct you to a wonderful life of marital bliss but, this would be of little consequence to you if this stranger did not first say, “Hey, uh, there’s a bear in the path. We gotta get out of here!”

Just like the bear in the path, our God demands, if not commands, our fear. Our mighty God is one to whom our fear is due.

When the Bible says the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom (Psalm 111.10), it is saying that without the knowledge of God and the impact He can have on our lives, all other knowledge is pointless and irrelevant. Before we can impart any helpful knowledge to someone else, we must first tell them that THERE IS A REAL GOD. And, once an individual comes to the personal realization that there is a God and that He is personally involved in the lives of every man, they will naturally feel some sense of fear, just like the hiker who learns that a bear is in the path. He fears the fact that the bear has the power to alter his life. 

God has the power to alter your life. God is powerful and he can change circumstances. God can and does stick His finger in our lives. So, what do you need to know? Just like the hiker, there are many other things you need to know, but if you don't know the main thing (fearing God) nothing else really matters.

 

What Do You Fear?

A lot of us have different fears. Some of them are silly. Others are completely justified.

A silly fear of mine is wasps. I hate those little things, and they terrify me to no end. I also have a fear of heights, despite flying in planes in the Marines for 2 years.

But what about legitimate fears?

Right now there are some families at our congregation that are going through some tough times health wise. Talk about legitimate fears...you go to the hospital a couple of times because of health problems and you will know legit fear.

But is that the fear that we’re talking about? Fear of roller coasters, bugs, the dark, our health - whatever? No it’s not.

Fear of God is totally different. I believe it’s one of the basics of our Christian life. If we don’t fear God, if we don’t respect Him and His Word, nothing else works. Not worship, not relationships, not anything. Without a healthy fear and respect for God, nothing else falls into place.

 

Fear = Respect?

You must first understand what kind of fear we’re talking about. This is not an afraid, fear-for-your-life kind of fear - it’s a respectful, reverent, prioritized fear-for-your-soul kind of fear. It’s a feeling that if I don’t do what God and His Word says, then I am going to Hell. And Hell is a place that I don’t want to be, so out of fear I serve God and obey His commands. But is that it?

I don’t believe so. Part of fearing God is respecting God. While they’re not the same, they relate to one another. Who is someone you respect? Who is someone you fear?

 

We Are Children In God's Hands

The best way to understand the fear of God is to think about the relationship with your own parents. I deal with teens everyday that think they hate their parents, but really don’t. They love their children. They are responsible for discipline of those children, and we’ve all seen those kids who aren’t disciplined by their parents. When your parents discipline, does that mean they don’t love their children? Of course not. It means they want what’s best for them, and to protect them. We sometimes don’t understand that.

It’s the same way with God. We fear our parents for what they might do to discipline us, but there’s no doubt that we don’t love them. We fear them and love them at the same time. We are likewise to fear God and love Him at the same time. 

I tell kids that your parents, whether you like it or not, have power over your life. When we realize that God has that same kind of power to change our lives and we recognize that fear and respect, our perspective changes.

God is due our reverent fear. Just like we must pay taxes to who it is due, give honor to whom it is due (Romans 13.7) Our fear is due to God. We must respect Him and know the power He has over the world and our lives. 

If we don’t fear God, we don’t love Him. Romans 8.38-39 states that nothing can separate us from His love. The only thing that can separate us from God is us. If we refuse to fear God, to acknowledge Him and serve Him, then we will be separated from that love.

If we don’t fear God, we’re separated from Him. In Luke 12.5, Jesus says this. If we don’t fear God, we will be cast into Hell.

And if we’re separated from God, we have nothing.

The writer of Ecclesiastes figured this out long before you and I ever existed. He says at the end of his philosophical book in chapter 12 that The conclusion, when all had been heard, is: fear God and keep his commandments, because this applies to every person. 

We must pay our fear to whom our fear is due, and that’s to our sovereign God. 

Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.   - Matthew 6.34

As a conservative Christian, I stopped worrying about things I could not control a long time ago. I at least try not to get bent out of shape over politics, the path our country is on, and other matters that, well, don't matter. 

It's not exactly Ecclesiastes or a epiphany I'm having here, but it is a minor realization. And that realization is: that none of that stuff matters. 

So what if our nation now is openly defiant against God in a myriad of ways? God will only allow this to go on for so long, and when He decided it's time for this nation to no longer exist because of it's wickedness, then we won't have to worry about any of this. 

We don't even need to worry about who's in office or what he/she is doing. The President does not have authority over our lives, God does. 

"The government is taking away our rights!" you say. "The government is going against God!" you say. All right, that may be so. Are YOU doing what God says? Are YOU a faithful servant of His? Don't worry about what everyone else is doing - worry about what you're doing. 

Quit being silly about the direction of our country. Worry about yourself, your family, and serving God in every capacity that you can. You can't control what anyone else says or does against God, but you can control you. God has this country on the path that He has deemed, whether that's to destruction or prosperity, we cannot know. 

Quit being silly about worship. Today I saw this. This is WORSHIP to the Almighty God who created us and everything around us, and some people want to turn it into Prom Night. And if that's not enough, we're treating worship to God like it's a hobby. Like we will go and participate if it fits in our schedule. God's Son didn't die on the cross for us to miss worship because of a ballgame or because it's inconvenient to our schedule. 

Just quit being silly, period. Quit complaining so much. Quit criticizing everything the preacher says or the youth minister does - they're people and fellow Christians too. Quit acting holy on Sundays and acting anything but on Saturday night. Quit worrying about things you can't control. 

Quit being a discourager and be an encourager. Quit complaining and start solving. Act holy and BE holy, just as God has intended us to. 

And stop worrying so much. God will take care of us if we trust in Him. 

If you know me at all, you'll know I'm a Star Trek nut. And one of the coolest things they did on those shows was talk to the computer like it was a person. The voice recognition knew exactly what you said and would do whatever you told it to do. 

When Siri first came out on the iPhone, I had high hopes. "My very own Star Trek computer, waiting for my commands!" is what I thought. Turns out it's not like that. Siri is useful, just not Trek-level computing. Yet. 

But think about how much voice recognition has improved on computers and smartphones in just the last 10 years. Now I can speak to my computer and dictate, just like I'm doing with this article right now. And most of the time, it's correct. 

Jesus says in John 10:27:

"My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me." 

Lots of things to look at in this verse. First and foremost, we must be a part of the flock. We can't hear our master's voice if we're not in the group to hear it. Secondly, when we're in that flock, Jesus knows us. He knows who we are. He knows what our heart is. And third, if we hear his voice and obey, we will follow him. 

Voice Recognition isn't quite up to Star Trek standards yet, but it's getting there. One thing we can always depend on is Jesus' voice - if we hear it, we know we're in the right place.