Sermon Tone Analysis

! Close Encounters Of The God Kind

!

Wholehearted Worship

 

 

One of the first people to claim to have been abducted by Aliens, apart from the famous ‘contactees’ of the 40s and 50s, was actually a couple.

This is very unusual, because most abductions tend to be of one person.

The couple was Betty and Barney Hill.

During September 1961 they were driving back from a holiday in Canada through the White Mountains.

They noticed a light that seemed to be following them, they assumed that it was an airplane or helicopter.

After driving for a while they were forced to stop the car because the light had descended rapidly and was now much closer.

Barney got out to get a better look, with the aid of his binoculars, and described the object as ‘banana like with pointed tips and windows.’

Barney started to walk slowly towards the craft, and it was only after several desperate calls from his wife that he returned to the car.

He claimed to have seen aliens through one of windows.

After this they drove back home.

However, they soon realized that more than an hour of time had been ‘lost,’ and they noticed that the car had strange blotches on it.

Betty reported it to Pease Air Force Base, who confirmed that it had indeed tracked an unknown object around that time and location.

Soon afterward Betty began having strange nightmares involving ‘aliens.’

She consulted several doctors who suggested hypnosis.

Dr.

Benjamin Simon hypnotized both the Hills, who was amazed by what each person was independently describing.

They each told of being taken onboard the UFO and having ‘medical’ tests performed on them.

Betty also remembered being shown a ‘star-map’ of where the aliens came from.

Under further hypnotic sessions they were able to re-create the start map which turned out to be very close to a known start system.

The exact planet that Betty was shown circled the star Zeta Reticulli.

This case was later made into a TV movie called “The UFO Incident.”

Whether you believe stories like these or *not*, they are becoming far too common place to simply ignore.

Stories about Unidentified Flying Objects (UFO’s) and related phenomena are everywhere, and they can be likened to encounters with God.

We are presently involved in a series of messages entitled:  “Close Encounters Of The God Kind.”

This title is take from one of the most spectacular UFO science fiction films of all times.

It was entitled:  “Close Encounters of the Third Kind.”

Released in 1977, it was directed by famous film director Stephen Spielberg, and was his first film after “Jaws,” which was released in 1975.

In this series, we are studying close encounters with God, by likening them to close encounters with UFO’s.

When a person has a close encounter with a UFO, it cannot be totally explained.

\\         Likewise, when a person truly encounters God, something happens that he~/she cannot totally explain or rationalize.

One cannot totally explain it, because it is a spiritual or metaphysical experience.

Therefore, he~/she is required to use his~/her intuition, a faculty of one’s human spirit, to leap beyond the natural and begin to entertain the supernatural, the miraculous, the ineffable, the transcendent, the eternal.

When a person has a close encounter with a UFO, it is an experience that changes that person’s life forever.

Likewise, when a person has a close encounter with the Jehovah God, it is an experience that changes that person’s life forever.

In the first sermon in this series, we began to define “A Close Encounter Of The God Kind.

The definition thus far is:

 

“A Close Encounter of the God Kind” is a face-to-face encounter with God that cannot be totally explained, but which—when fully experienced—will bring about a genuine response of worship, which will change people forever!

In that first sermon, we also defined worship as ascribing or attributing to God the worth that He is due, and we talked about encountering God and experiencing that encounter.

That first sermon must have been very impacting, because one of my friends gingerly asked me, “Have you been abducted by a UFO?”

I guess my definite statement to the contrary, on last Sunday, was *not* enough to offset the passion of my sermon.

But upon further reflection, I must honestly report that I have had a number of encounters with an extraterrestrial.

His name is Jesus!

Jesus, Himself, while here on earth, admitted that He was an extraterrestrial.

He said in

 

John 18:36, “...‘*My kingdom is not of this world.*

If My kingdom were of this world, then My servants would be fighting, that I might not be delivered up to the Jews; but as it is, *My kingdom is not of this realm*.’”

Is it any wonder that those of us who live on this terrestrial ball, called earth, have great difficulty grasping and living the life of the kingdom?

Be that as it may, today we want to continue to expand our definition of “A Close Encounter Of The God Kind.”

Let’s deal with the phrase “a genuine response of worship.”

(All right?

Let’s go!)

 

        *It takes an encounter with God, which is fully experienced, to facilitate, evoke, or bring about a genuine response of worship.*

*If an encounter with God is not fully experienced, with one’s entire being, it will short-circuit the genuine response of worship.*

\\ An encounter with God can be personal or in a group, private or corporate, through a dream or through a live event, through something said or done by others, or by one’s self, through living, bodily movements, preaching, singing, giving, etc., etc., etc.

We will center primarily upon preaching and then study biblical encounters.

*Nevertheless, it is the encounter with God and the full experience of that encounter that brings about a genuine response of worship.*

(Before we more fully explain this relationship of a genuine response of worship to an encounter with God, let’s get to know more about genuine worship by exploring a few Scriptures.

Let’s take a look at a passage of Scripture in the book of Deuteronomy.)

The book of Deuteronomy contains the words that Moses used to address Israel prior to their entry into the Promised Land.

In the words we are about to consider, Moses prophesies and warns the children of Israel of their coming apostasy or falling away from God.

He also prophesies their return, and in this prophecy he tells them how rediscover or find God.

This is found in

 

Deuteronomy 4:29, “But from there you will seek the Lord your God, and you will find Him if you search for Him with all your heart and all your soul.”

·        This verse is about rediscovering God, after having walked away from Him.

·        This verse is about finding God, after you having lost Him.

·        This verse is about encountering God afresh and anew.

But there is more here.

This verse is about worship!

The Hebrew word for “seek” is

 

baqash, baw-kash', 1245; and means “to search out (by any method, specifically in worship or prayer).”

*According to this Scripture, when we, human beings, want to have an encounter with the true and living God, we have the privilege of seeking Him out.

According to the definition of the Hebrew word for “seek,” two of the best ways of seeking Him out are worship and prayer.*

Now, we only have time to talk about worship.

When we worship God, that is when we give Him the praise, glory, honor, thanksgiving, etc., that is due His great name, we are actually seeking Him out for an encounter.

*Worship will summon God to come and encounter us.*

Isn’t this made clear in

 

Psalm 22:3, “Yet Thou art holy, O Thou who art enthroned upon the praises of Israel.”

According to this Scripture, when Israel praised or worshipped God, she created a throne for God to come and enthrone Himself upon—in her midst.

This was truly “A Close Encounter Of The God Kind.”

\\ Well, the same is true for us, who are /spiritual/ Israel.

When we praise and worship God, we create a throne for God to come and enthrone Himself.

We are, in a sense, *inviting God* to come and sit on His throne right in the midst of us!

The point is:  *“Worship is a means of seeking God!”*

 

/(But that is not all.

Moses told the Children of Israel the kind of searching or seeking that must be done to insure God coming to encounter them.)/

Moses said to the children of Israel:

 

“You will find Jehovah God if you search for Him with all of your heart and soul.”

This is also signified in the word “search.”

The word “search” is another Hebrew word (darash, daw-rash', 1875) that means to pursue or follow after God, specifically in worship.

*The prerequisite for finding or inviting an encounter with God, in worship, is that your worship must be with all your heart and soul!*

 

/(But what exactly does this mean?)/

The word “heart” is lebab (3824) and stands for the inner man, mind, will, heart.

This corresponds to the NT.

Greek word /kardia/, which we delineate as thoughts, feelings, and choices.

The word “soul” is nephesh (5315) and designates the physical life, i.e. vitality in all of its breadth and width.

Moses is saying to the Israelites, “You will only find God when you worship Him with all of your inner life and all of your vitality, enthusiasm, and energy!”

No wonder David danced before the Lord with all of His might, when they brought the Ark of the Covenant back to Jerusalem!

Did you get that, because the same is true to day?