Pembina Valley Camp listen2

Pembina Valley Camp

February 5, 2000 Saturday Morning

Sat AM  COMMUNICATION

Listening

Both ways, father and son.

Listening with the third ear.

 Illustrate with the difficulty of communication when engine noise and helmets make hearing difficult.

Clear signals

Anger may mean fear

Frustration may be manifested in yelling

Love may be communicated in action, word or touch. If not clear, may be missed

How can we learn to make our signals clear?

Be aware of what we are communicating

Use stories to promote hearing.

                Illus. David and Nathan re: Bathsheba( Ii Samuel 12), re: going to see Absalom II Samuel 14.

Shakespeare – “know thyself”

Come unto me

God is always waiting for us to hear us

Psalm 17:6 – a prayer with the assurance that God will hear

Possible approach:

We talked about honoring yesterday

One way to honor is to listen

Listening isn’t always obvious

                The hindrances to listening

source – feelings/attitudes of speaker – communication – feelings /attitudes of hearer – destination

**use the illustration of prisms and a beam of light, distorted at every point, how can the message get through?

Lenses and images

An image projected, but distorted by intervening lenses.

Change the lenses to clear glass so that the final image is the same as the original image

Feelings of speaker cleared up by knowing ourselves

Communication cleared up by being honest in love Ephesians 4:15

Feelings of hearer cleared up by listening to the message behind the words.

Snowmobile illustration

Same in life

                Anger can be fear or frustration

Real listening involves hearing what is behind the words

How do we do that?

Know our own selves so that we know what we are communicating

Listen carefully and learn to hear signals

Tell stories to make sure you are being heard.

Problem, too much stuff for a short talk.

Key on certain aspects of it.

Hearing both ways, fathers/ sons and sons /fathers.

God hearing

Gen. 16:12 – God heard Hagar when she fled from Sarah with her son.

Exodus 2:24; 3:7 – God heard Israel crying in their slavery.

Numbers 11:18 – God heard when they wanted meat, and grumbled, supplied in spite of their grumbling because he really heard.

II Samuel 22:1ff. Esp. 7 David when God heard him and delivered him from Saul

Psalms expressing that God has heard: Psalm 6:8,9; 18:6; 28:6; 31:22; 34:6; 40:1 et al.

Isaiah 38:5 – God heard Hezekiah when he was ill.

Luke 1:13 – God heard Zechariah’s prayer and John was born, what was his prayer?

Jesus and God – John 11:41, 42

God heard Cornelius – Acts 10:31

God re: salvation II Corinthians 6:2

God listens to us

He also has spoken to us

In His Word

In His Son

His communication has been honest, clear and loving.