Sermon by: Duane Thompson

Transcribed by: Amy Adams

Ecclesiastes 3:1: “To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under heaven.”      

Daniel 2:20-22: “Daniel answered and said, ‘Blessed be the name of God for ever and ever: for wisdom and might are His: And He changes the times and the seasons: he removes kings, and sets up kings; He gives wisdom to the wise, and knowledge to them that know understanding. He reveals deep secrets and hidden things; He knows what is in the darkness, and the light dwells with Him.”

There is a time for everything. Everything moves by seasons and everything has a different timing. Your life moves in seasons and so does God.  The place of God’s purpose is also the place of God’s power, purpose and provision. God had a purpose for you before you were created. Once you know why you were created and why you’re here, it will take you not only to the promises of your life but to the problems of your life as well. God is constantly moving. Most of us follow Him to the degree that we’re comfortable, but we all should start following Him to the point that we’re uncomfortable.

Ephesians 3:20: “Now to Him who is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us.”

God is constantly trying to lead us into a place of purpose and trying to transition us into another season.

Psalm 66:12: “Thou hast caused men to ride over our heads; we went through fire and throgh water: but you brought us out into a wealthy (abundant) place.”

A lot people are stuck in a process where they don’t want to move on to the next season.

1 Corinthians 10:13 “No temptation that has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and He will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation He will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.”

There is a difference in going through and coming out on the other side as opposed to just quitting. Church has preached people to the cross instead of through the cross. IF you come to the cross and don’t go into it, you will go back to what you knew before you knew Jesus.

God is the Ultimate Provider. Think about the Exodus. The Israelites were used to the certainty of being provided for in Egypt while they were slaves, but God would provide to the Israelites as He saw their need in the desert in a different way.

Our new life began at the cross. Most people’s life before the cross was a disaster. We have to make that  decision to step into following Him into our purpose after the cross. After making that decision, there’s a dynamic change of who and what you’re supposed to be.

Matthew 16:25: “For whosoever will save His life shall lose it; and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it.”

How do you move into your next season? Here are 4 Greek words that have to do with different aspects of time for context:

–Chronos is the passing of time. –Kairos is the appointed time, right, critical or opportune moment   –Hora is the exact moment in time                    –Pleroma is the fullness of time; when it’s finished; completeness or perfection

Every season is a chronos. You need to prepare for the appointment, the time that the door is about to open, which is the kairos. Hora is the exact moment in time when your divine appointment is and when you should be ready to make the transition by stepping through the door. Pleroma or pleuros is the end result of stepping through the door and hopefully accomplishing what God wanted you to accomplish.

There’s gifts and things on the other side that you have no idea about. There are provisions provided to you that only God could provide. You sometimes have to go to a place where there’s less. The thing that’s the worst or hardest to come to terms with is this: after you’ve come to the end of the season, there’s a divine shift. There are things that used to work over here in the last season that won’t work anymore in the new season. It’s a divine shift. You have to go through transformation. The person you were in the last season is not the person you’ll be in the next season.

Jeremiah 18 is about “the potter and the clay.” The problem is when you’re being transformed by the Potter (God) you have to get the lumps (impurities) out. Removing the lumps is painful. Count it all joy when He gets the lumps out. You have to learn to forgive others. All of these trials and tribulations are necessary for what you need for your life and the purpose God has for you.

Jeremiah 29:11-13: “’For I know the thoughts I think toward you,’ says the Lord, ‘thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end. Then you shall call upon me, and you shall go and pray to me, and I will hear you. And you shall seek me and find me, when you shall search for me with all your heart.’”

Romans 12:2: “Do not be conformed to the patterns of this world but be transformed by the renewal of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is – his good, pleasing and perfect will.”

You can’t change your mind until you’re willing to tear down some stuff in your mind: old ways of thinking, old thought patterns, old actions and attitudes, etc.