Sermon on the Mountainside Can You Hear Me Now?

Sermon on the Mountainside

Can You Hear Me Now?

In a world of communication the question is still

“Can you hear me now?”

Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount says

"But I tell you who hear me” Luke 6:27

Beware of the things in your mind that keep you from hearing God

Hearing God transforms the mind

And transforms life

8 "For my thoughts are not your thoughts,

neither are your ways my ways," declares the LORD.

9 "As the heavens are higher than the earth,

so are my ways higher than your ways

and my thoughts than your thoughts. Isaiah 55:8-9 

Can You Hear Me Now?

In 2002 Verizon launched a new TV ad.

The leading cell phone network provider

hired actor Paul Marcarelli to be Version’s

“Test Man” in their commercials.

For nine years Version’s “Test Man”

with his horn-rimmed glasses was seen

in different locations with the famous

catch phrase, “Can you hear me now?”

In 2011, Paul Marcarelli was hired by

Sprint and the Test Man is still asking

the question, “Can you hear me now?”

    

“Can you hear me now?” has become

the ten million dollar question.

All most all of actor’s Paul Marcarelli’s

ten million dollar net worth was made

from saying, “Can you hear me now?”

As Jesus is preaching the

Sermon on the Mount He says…

 

"But I tell you who hear me”

Luke 6:27

As I have gotten older

hearing has become harder.

I keep my cell phone

volume on the highest level. 

When I watch TV with Sandy I

turn the TV volume up a little louder.

If you cannot hear, you cannot understand.

Hearing takes work when the volume is

not loud enough or the voices are not clear.

Understanding someone with a

strong accent can be frustrating.

Yet to those who speaks their

language, the conversation is clear. 

Hearing is one of the five senses we use every day.

There are a lot of things we can say about hearing.

But even if the volume is loud

enough and the voice is crystal clear

there can be a problem hearing.

One of the most frustration parts of a

conversation is when you are talking

and the listener misses the point.

Recently someone asked me a question

and I thought they were interested

in me and what I would say.

It didn’t take long till this person took over the

conversation and I soon realized they never heard me.

Some people try to be nice by asking

you a question, but they don’t want

to listen, they want to speak. 

I remember when I was learning

to write, my sentences went on and on

using the words “and” and “so” made the

period unnecessary and no need for paragraphs.

Some of us talk in a way you

cannot get a word in edgewise.

We also listen the same way…

 We don’t hear the main idea because individual

words trigger our own thoughts.

Hearing is a skill we all need to develop.

The Psalms encourage meditating 
on God’s law, His Word, His Ways.

Mediating on the words of God is a good 
practice to understanding what God is saying.

Eight times in the Book of

Revelation we find these words…

“He that has an ear let him hear.”

         

Jesus did not speak so we could

have “one liners” or famous quotes.

Jesus spoke in ways to get us to think…

To bait us to search for deeper meaning.

Parables were commonly used

by Jesus to make us ask questions.

Isaiah 55:8-9 tells us…

8 "For my thoughts are not your thoughts,

neither are your ways my ways," declares the LORD.

9 "As the heavens are higher than the earth,

so are my ways higher than your ways

and my thoughts than your thoughts.

Misunderstanding Jesus is common

because our thoughts get in the way.

Our minds determine everything in our world.

The way we think and the way we feel

comes from the resources of our minds.

Sadly as the scriptures say…

 “There is a way that seems right to a man.”

Romans 12:2 tells us the

importance of a transformed mind…

Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world,

but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.

Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is

 — his good, pleasing and perfect will.

When Jesus says, "But I tell you who hear me”

He is saying more than, “Can you hear me now.”

He is talking to those who are willing to

allow His words to transform our minds.

Where ever Jesus went He was asking,

 “Do you hear me now?”

Test Man, Paul Marcarelli has gone into the remotest

areas to see if the cellphone signal can be heard.

The “Great Commission” of Matthew 28:19…

“Therefore go and make disciples of all nations,…”

Calls us all to become God’s “Test Man”.

Making disciples is a process

of transforming the mind.

Jesus did not come just to tell people, but

to transform minds, by the Word of God.

It is not enough to just preach.

We must help people to understand

by the transformation of the mind.

True hearing changes lives.

Scripture Reading

Luke 6:27 NIV

27 "But I tell you who hear me:

Luke 6:27 NLT

27 "But if you are willing to listen