Hearing From God: A Word For Me?

June 1st, 2025/Boulder Adventist Church

Intro:

Come on, Pinewood Church, can we give Jesus some praise this morning?!

Look at your neighbor and say, ‘It’s going to be a great day.’

Now look at your second choice and introduce yourself. 🙂

Today, we’re jumping into week six of our Hearing From God series, and the title of today’s message is simple but personal. It’s called ‘A Word For Me?’

Come on, can you say that with me? ‘A word for me?’

Here’s why that matters: I believe one of the most powerful, overlooked ways God speaks is through other people — through a friend, a mentor, a pastor, sometimes even someone unexpected. But the big question we wrestle with is, “How do I know when it’s actually God speaking?”

Because let’s be honest:
Sometimes people’s words build you up,
Sometimes their words weigh you down,
And sometimes their words just make you go, “Huh?”

So today, we’re going to explore how to posture your heart, position your life, and tune your ears to hear when God is trying to get a message to you through someone else.

Let’s go ahead and open up to Proverbs 11:14.

Passage: Proverbs 11:14 (CSB)

"Without guidance, a people will fall, but with many counselors there is deliverance."

Pray:

We live in a world that says, “I don’t need anyone.” We live in an “I got this” culture, but that’s not how God designed the Kingdom! God wired us for community. He set it up so you wouldn’t just hear from Him in your quiet time, not just in a moment of solitude on a hike, and just in a worship moment on your commute, but you would hear Him through your crew, your church community, your friends, and even sometimes through people you didn’t expect.

So today, I want to give you four ‘I will’ commitments, somebody say, "I will!". My hope is to help you position yourself to hear, receive, and respond when God speaks through others. Ready? Let’s go!

Main Points:

1. I WILL STAY PLANTED IN GODLY COMMUNITY

   1. You can’t hear God through others if you isolate yourself. Apollos didn’t grow by himself; Paul didn’t launch his ministry by himself. They were planted in community. They had people come around them, encourage them, challenge them, and elevate them!
   2. Acts 9:26–28 — Barnabas pulls Paul into a trusted community, and the church is strengthened.
   3. You can’t win a team game if you’re playing on a separate field all alone!
   4. Illust: I love building fires… You can’t stay on fire if you’re the coal that keeps rolling away from the fire pit!

   5. Reflection: Who has access to your real life? Who’s close enough to sharpen you?

      1. Oftentimes, if we’re not careful, we can keep people close enough to not feel alone, but never really close enough to be known.
         6. Illust: Small potted plant. If you keep yanking this thing out of the soil, it won’t grow. It will stagnate and often wither and die. Stay planted!
         7. Monday Move: Join a crew, show up regularly, build deep friendships, not surface vibes. Let’s be a church that’s rooted!

2. I WILL LISTEN WITH HUMILITY

   1. I love this: Apollos was a mighty preacher, but when Priscilla and Aquila pulled him aside and said, "Hey, there’s more to the story," he listened, and his ministry became even stronger.
   2. And then we see in Acts 18:24–28, humility made Apollos a better preacher, a stronger leader.
   3. Can I tell you? Humility is the gateway to maturity. You can’t grow if you think you know it all.
   4. Illust: Jesus, the King, on His knees, washing feet. The greatest one in the room takes the lowest posture.
   5. Reflection: Who do you let challenge you? Are you only listening to people who hype you up, or are you willing to let someone sharpen you?
   6. Personal Story: Story of Mark Jeter pulling me and Adam aside and said “You’re being dumb”... changed my life. Share a time when someone corrected you or encouraged you, and it pushed you to a new level.
   7. Monday move: Ask someone you trust, “What’s one blind spot you see in me?” And here’s the kicker, listen!

3. I WILL TEST WHAT I HEAR AGAINST SCRIPTURE AND SPIRIT

   1. Not every word is from God.

      1. says, "Satan can counterfeit spiritual messages; only the Word exposes the counterfeit." - Warren Wiersbe
      2. We’ve got to test what we hear.
         2. 1 Thessalonians 5:19–21 — "Test all things; hold on to what is good."
         3. Illust: It’s like this: You don’t drink unfiltered water, you filter it first! You don’t pour coffee grounds in hot water and hope for the best! No! You use a filter! The Word of God is your filter. It lets the good stuff through, blocks the junk.
         4. Reflection: Are you too quick to believe, or too quick to reject? What’s your default?
         5. Monday move: Write down what you sense, bring it to prayer, line it up with Scripture, and share it with a mentor or pastor.
         6. Soft moment: Some of you are carrying old words that hurt you, they weren’t from God. Today, Jesus is saying, “Let Me heal you with My truth.”

4. I WILL OBEY WHAT GOD CONFIRMS THROUGH TRUSTED VOICES

   1. Here’s where we make it clear. It’s not just about hearing God through others, it’s about obeying when He confirms something through people you trust — a pastor, a friend, a mentor, a family member. Obedience is what matures you and moves you forward.
   2. Esther 4:12–17 — Mordecai challenges Esther, and her obedience saves a nation.
   3. Ilust: You can hear "rerouting" all day on your GPS, but if you don’t turn, you stay lost.

   4. Reflection: What’s that one area where God’s been nudging you, confirming it again and again, but you’re still holding back?

      1. What’s a word someone has given you that you felt was from God, you tested it, you prayed, and yet you’ve begin to doubt it. Maybe this is your reminder today to recall those words of the past and step into it with faith!
         5. Monday move: Take a step. Make the call. Apply the advice. Start the habit. God is waiting on your “yes”.
         6. Big moment: Obedience moves you from information to transformation. It’s where the breakthrough happens.

Closing: God is speaking, will you respond?

God is speaking through His Spirit, His Word, and His people. But will you tune in? Will you obey? Will you pass it on?

For the unbeliever: Jesus is calling you today, “Come home to Me.”

For the lukewarm believer: God’s shaking you awake, “Come back, I’m ready to move in your life.”

For the mature believer: God is commissioning you, “Rise up. Be My voice. Build up My people.”

I want to invite you down front today, not for a passive moment, but for a bold, decisive YES. If you’re ready to hear God through others, obey what He confirms, and become a voice of hope, come forward. Let’s fill this altar and lift up one cry: “Speak, Lord, Your servant is listening!”

Today, isolation is breaking off. Fresh obedience is rising up. Encouragers are being raised. Don’t leave the same way you came!

Final Prayer: "Lord, we surrender. We open our hearts, our ears, our hands. Speak to us. Move us. Use us. Raise up encouragers and kingdom builders in this room. We say yes, Jesus, yes to You, yes to Your people, yes to Your mission. In Jesus’ name, amen!"

Invitation:

If you want to make a decision to follow Jesus. Then join me and everyone else in the building as we pray out loud together. It’s not the prayer that saves you, but your faith, making Jesus Lord of your life. We don’t let anyone go on the journey alone. If you have faith in Jesus, then let’s join together as we pray…

Prayer of Salvation:

Jesus, I acknowledge that I need you

I confess that I have sinned against you

I believe that God raised you from the dead

And right now, by faith, I say “Jesus is Lord”

Thank you for forgiving me

By your grace I am saved

And by your power I am set free

Communion: 1 Corinthians